THE PIGS are flying backwards and hell has surely frozen over because, for the first time in a very long while, I have found myself agreeing with something former Roar manager Miron Bleiberg has said.
Bleiberg has questioned why Brisbane Roar and not Queensland's other two A-League clubs receive assistance from the state government in bringing teams from overseas for the annual Roar Against Racism pre-season match.
"Why should only Brisbane Roar benefit from this game - what about the other clubs?" Bleiberg asked this week. Why not indeed?
Unfortunately for Gold Coast United and North Queensland Fury, this perceived favouritism is nothing more than a result of poor timing. The original Roar Against Racism concept was conceived between the club and State Government in 2007. At the time, the then Queensland Roar were the only A-League club in Queensland and there was no firm indication of when or where the A-League would expand.
With two new clubs now established in the Sunshine State and the original Roar Against Racism agreement in its final season there is an opportunity to expand the concept and include our A-League cousins in this fantastic initiative. After all, I don't think it is presumptuous to say that Gold Coast and North Queensland are as equally against racism as Brisbane Roar.
Bleiberg proceeded to provide a suggestion that at first I baulked at and then unexpectedly embraced. "In the future it should be a combined team of the three Queensland clubs playing against an overseas team if it's government sponsored," he said.
Australia has a rich history of state-based representative teams in many sports and I can see no reason that it could not work with the three A-League teams in an expanded initiative called Queensland Against Racism.
The match could be hosted on a triennial basis between Brisbane, Gold Coast and Townsville - providing much needed publicity for Australian football in the middle of the NRL and AFL seasons.
The team and the coach could be selected by the fans through a vote in local newspapers. A quota system of six players from each club would provide a squad of 18 players that equally represent the three cities and ensure that the disparity in populations between the cities does not result in a lop-sided team.
The team could sport an all maroon kit in the tradition of Queensland representative teams and be named Queensland United. With time, and with big name foreign clubs being invited to participate, the concept could prove to be as successful as State of Origin.
I acknowledge that such a concept would bring about some disapproving clucks from the football purists. However, combining the best Queensland-based imports and Australian players would promote the game outside of the traditional football communities in each of the three cities. That could only be a good thing for the clubs and for the A-League as whole.
