R15 vs Brisbane Roar | Sat 18th Jan | 7:00pm | SS7

Referee: Alex King
Assistant Referee 1: Nathan MacDonald
Assistant Referee 2: Andrew Lindsay
Fourth Official: Adam Kersey
VAR: Kurt Ams


Brisbane Roar FC squad: 1.Max CROCOMBE (gk), 2.Scott NEVILLE, 4.Daniel BOWLES, 6.Macaulay GILLESPHEY, 8.Jacob PEPPER, 9.Roy O’DONOVAN, 10.Bradden INMAN, 13.Stefan MAUK, 14.George MELLS, 15.Aaron REARDON, 19.Jack HINGERT, 20.Aaron AMADI-HOLLOWAY, 21.Jamie YOUNG (gk), 22.Jake MCGING, 23.Dylan WENZEL-HALLS, 25.Rahmat AKBARI, 26.Jay O’SHEA, 27.Kai TREWIN, 28.Izaack POWELL, 30.Mirza MURATOVIC
**2-4 to be omitted**

Ins: 14.George MELLS (promoted), 15.Aaron REARDON (promoted), 27.Kai TREWIN (promoted)

Outs: 5.Tom ALDRED (suspended – 1 week)

Unavailable: 12.Aiden O’NEILL (international duty), 24.Connor O’TOOLE (international duty), 29.Jordan COURTNEY-PERKINS (knee – TBC)

Wellington Phoenix squad: 1.Stefan MARINOVIC (gk), 2.Liam McGING, 3.Luke DEVERE, 4.Te Atawhai HUDSON-WIHONGI, 5.Matti STEINMANN, 6.Tim PAYNE, 8.Cameron DEVLIN, 9. David Ball, 10.Ulises DAVILA, 11.Jaushua SOTIRIO, 12. Brandan Wilson, 13.Liberato CACACE, 17.Callan Elliot, 20.Oliver SAIL (gk), 21.Callum MCCOWATT, 23.Walter SCOTT, 27.Steven TAYLOR (c), 31.Ben WAINE, 32.Sam SUTTON, 88. Gary HOOPER
**2-4 to be omitted**

Ins: 9. David Ball (Return from Injury), 12. Brandan Wilson (promoted)

Outs: Nil

Unavailable: 7. Reno Piscopo (International Duty), 14.Alex RUFER (knee), 16.Louis FENTON (shoulder - season)

There was this chant last game that we're going to win the League. So that means this one is in the bag. Right? 

And what's with no female AR this week? 

Litmus test coming up i reckon - how bad do we want it? - real fuc king bad I hope

COYN

Short video from the A league site

The game that kick-started Phoenix's run.

https://www.a-league.com.au/video/wellington-v-brisbane-game-kick-started-phoenixs-season

I think we should win this 3-2, Roar have improved and playing at home I think they will score first.

How bad is Rufer's knee injury? Thought he was back to full fitness the other week, or was at least said to have recovered, and then hasn't made the squad since. 

Has he aggravated it since then or is the injury worse than first thought? 

So, Brandan Wilson isn't suspended from an A League game then? How convenient, he can be stood down from a Handy game while playing in the A League!

Are you trolling us with this positivity?

Neither, I believe.

Well, I guess you could say "worse than first thought" but as I understand it his inclusion in various named squads after the first WSW match was optimistic.

Talay said something like physically it's okay but it's not very comfortable for Rufer and he doesn't have the confidence in it.

Forecast 26 degrees and some rain on Sat

Unbeaten in their last 3, although largely down to Inman scoring some blinders to be fair and the football they are playing is still average at best. Tom Aldred will be a big loss for them, their defensive line could be a mess without him. I'd like to think we can continue the run fairly comfortably, 2-0 or 3-1, unless their defenders shark the bed with big Tommy in which case it could be a great night for Davila and co. 

Fudgesake, Royz! What is this?!?

Play as we can, there is no reason why can't get a result, regardless of their recent form.

Thanks for fudgeing us over, Royz. We've already lost.

If we manage to get through the jinx effect of Royz singular positive post, then I think we'll win 2-1. Ball, DeVere.

I was all for Royz to be the anti-jinx, but his unbridled optimism scares me.

Something I just figured out:

This season we had to beat WSW to match our 9 game unbeaten record set last season.

Last season we had to beat WSW as well to match our then 7 game unbeaten record. 

What a conincidence

Roar have been lucky to win their last three, they aren't playing well. Compare that to us who have been dominating the opposition home and away and winning 3 on the trot, 6 wins in the last 8 games, 9 unbeaten. This one will be the 4th straight win and 10th unbeaten.

Thought we were pretty lucky in the last two games too. We were outplayed in both for large periods.

The first 7 games sure, but we got very lucky against the Mariners, we dominated them the first half and they dominated us the second, we're just lucky they couldn't finish - they really over ran us.  The last game we weren't great but we were better, I think we were lucky we were playing a poor WSW team.

The previous 7 games were great.  If Ball is fit enough he'll be a huge addition - to be honest I think him missing in the last two games was a huge factor in us struggling.  The guy is fantastic and is one of our most creative players.

I reckon Ball will be on the bench, Ufuk doesn't hurry players back as he's proved. If we need him with 20 to go, he might get used, otherwise not.

I've watched Roar's last three and without Inman they'd have bugger all. Neutralise him and I think we'll cruise it. 3-1 maybe.

Ball won't be starting by the looks of it.

Ufuk Talay says David Ball will travel to Brisbane with a decision on his involvement made tomorrow. Unlikely he’ll start. Brandon Wilson will be in match-day squad. Alex Rufer probably not ready until after next week. 

https://twitter.com/pineyzb/status/1217917969960849408

I agree - I was sceptical at first in his early games but am very happy to concede I was wrong. Not only his own playing is superb, but also what he does to make others like Sotirio play effectively. He appears to be completely unselfish and will not take a wayward shot if he can see a better outlet.

If he is actually well enough to take the bench then I am happy to give him limited game time to ease him into the game - late in the game - rather than risk an injury aggravation.

Ball is just a really well-rounded player with fantastic technique. He's not an out and out striker, but he's never been in that over his entire career.

1 - 0 will do me just fine

I think he means that we SHOULD win, but won't because we are a disgrace..

Christchurch based fans. We are looking to get a bit of weekly support going for the second half of the season. 

Head over to the Christchurch Phoenix Supporters Club Facebook page for updates. If you're interested, head along to Robbies Riccarton this Saturday to support the Phoenix. 

Brisbane Roar vs Wellington Phoenix ??. Saturday 18th January 2020. Kick off 7:00pm. Robbies Riccarton Sports Bar (Christchurch).

All welcome.

Thanks for organising it. It's been patchy since SackOfSpuds got busy with life.

I am not on FB, so the post here was appreciated.

Like the look of that Nix day pass from Sky. $5 for the day, less than a beer and just a little more than a coffee 

Did someone kidnap Royz

You're an enigma 

Maybe a stretch that. Thought the oppo got back to parity and had some good periods. But wouldn't say there was any period where they had some dominance that wasn't countered by periods when we were on top. 

In both games I'd say we had 30 mins of dominance. Then they tightened up their pressure on us and shut down our time and space more, and maybe we just eased off into that pressure and played a bit more conservatively. And it got back more to parity, with ebbs and flows both ways. But I wouldn't say either side we played did better than that? But, for sure, for maybe 50 mins of each game it was pretty balanced, the way I saw it. 

I think I agree with you overall though, because we only won by one, in one case, and by a late second in the other. And a bit of a break for the opposition could have seen them level. 

Almost every game's been close on the scoreboard. And Tallay seems to be onto us playing better for longer. Cause while we've been good and probably deserved every result we've got, it's not like we've been running away with games and the scoreline. 

But then, we've been missing Ball and Piscopo. So good results and showing some good depth. Hooper coming on - another assist for him, and more time on the field. Reason to think we can keep improving and keep the heat on in games for longer once we have the full bench back. At least till those games with Davila away. 

I am with mjp2 on this.  A better opposition might have given us more grief in the game/s without Ball and Piscopo. However, our defence was solid in these games. This was at the expense of Taylor not running up to take part in our corners kicks as much, which something he clearly loves doing.  He jumps pretty high for a big bloke.

*Their

Wait, what? Where can I buy that? I've subscribed to Sky sport now only to watch Nix games costing me $50 a month

Looks like a one off offer for nix members 

Sounds like it's been raining all night in Brisbane and forecast to rain most of the day. Playing condition could well be wet and heavy under foot.

Quote from a roar forum.

The weather will come in to team selection now. It’s been raining hard pretty much all night (I’m 6km’s from the stadium and it’s taken a soaking) and will rain pretty much all day and through the match. 

Sounds like lucky dip game tonight with the rain and that. Was always gonna be a tight game anyway.