I see we have some new attendees at the meeting today. Welcome to Brisbane Roar Tragics Anonymous. For all you new people, there are coffee and biscuits on the table to the side. On the table to the right are the razor blades and sleeping pills right next to the toilets....Of course I'm joking - we here at B.R.T.A don't condone violence or any other acts of self mutilation resulting in self murder.
Again for all our new members this group is designed for all the suffering fans of Brisbane Roar Football Club. We are here for a shoulder to cry on, a sympathising ear and the knowledge that you are not alone. For the first timers all we ask is you stand, introduce yourself and tell us about you and your history with the Roar.
Okay, who is going to start? How about you sir, yes you with the red shirt....hmmm....okay, it seems like you can't talk because of the uncontrollable crying, maybe you should sit down and listen for a while. Remember crying is allowed at B.R.T.A, but it's not liked.
How about you?
Hi I'm Matt.
Hiiiiiii Matt.
I'm a Brisbane Roar Tragic, and I'm proud of it. I've been through a lot with this team. Through the Bairds and Brosques, and the Marcinhos and Simon Lynchs, I've been with the team. Supporting, willing them on. I have sat through the Newcastle preliminary heartbreak. The Barbiero hit and hope. I suffered through it all and came back for more. I love Roar, but sometimes I wonder.....do they love me?
As any normal punter would, I looked to the 2010 season with excitement and hope. This could be our year. We have come so close the two previous years. Charlie will have a full preseason behind him; the guys will be fit and raring to go.
Then the club sucker punches me in my man giblets. Ticket prices....what the hell were they thinking. I had a baby due in January and now they want me to sell my kidney to afford my season tickets? Do they want to attract fans to Suncorp? Thankfully a long lost Uncle called Kevin Rudd had some money to give us so we could afford them. I mean this could be our year. Of course I want to be a part of it.
I could deal with Tahj leaving; I mean, we have a lot of young talented players like Josh McVey, Luke Bratten, and Tommy Oar. He wants more money and playing time that we couldn't offer him. That's ok. All we needed was to sign serviceable over seas player to add to the mix and we would look good. So why instead did Frank sign Bob "Freight-liner" Malcolm? We already have four centrebacks on our list, why do we need another one, who is much worse than the others?
Despite these issues, despite the name change, the kit change, the front office change, the player changes, the ticket price change, most of us who bleed orange were still looking forward to the season. Anyone can win the title on the opening round. Those hopes were dashed early on as Gold Coast beat us with 19,000 people watching at Suncorp (the curse is alive). It took us till round four to get a win as we spluttered through the early rounds.
Then Frankie had a drink, and Roar's season went from disappointing to calamitous. Frank was gone, but let it be known I wasn't a huge fan of Mister Farina, so his departure wasn't the end of the world to me. He was a reactive rather than proactive coach. He tended to stick to his old ways and selection policies. So the thought of a fresh manager breathing life into the Roar roster excited me. This new Gaffer can get the season back on track and have us surging into the final series.
Thus begins the Ange era. His appointment didn't excite or disappoint me. I was prepared to give him a go. I follow the team, not the manager. Then the rumblings started. Roar were not happy campers. Rumours of disharmony were prevalent. Apparently the Farina regime was relaxed and laid back, but Ange had told them to harden up. Train more and you are only playing when you are fit.
He started planning for next year, Charlie was told you are not in our plans, so in turn he wanted out (fair enough), he went to Gold Coast (Judas bastard). Liam Reddy wanted out (ok, not a big fan especially after his performance against Glory i.e. the "you've got cover" incident).
Then the heart breaker, Craig Moore wanted out. He was a hero to all in orange; he played with one nut, and led us with pride and fearlessness. The fashion in which he left was.....let's say unsavoury, whoever is at fault, to let it play out in the public eye like that was amateurish. It paints Roar in a bad light and would make any player who is thinking about joining Brisbane to think twice.
Tiatto began a war of words through the Courier Mail which led Roar to tell him to nick off. Malcolm was gone (woo hoo) and the roster was decimated. What had happened to our season of promise?
In the midst of all the mediocre performances, they offered up mirages of hope, like the 4-1 win over Phoenix in round 16, the 3-2 battle against the Mariners and the 1-0 aberration against Sydney. Ultimately, however Roar showed their true colours and they weren't the orange we all revere.
Our season finished with a whimper, it would have been tragic if we had made the finals given what we have gone through all year.
As the dust settles on another trophyless season, there, in the distance, is a new hope (not the Roar women's team). A new season lays far off into the horizon. We have cleared roster space, and cap space. We have signed DeVere long term. Zullo and Tommy have another year under their belt (if the stay in Brisbane and don't wind up in Holland).
We have signed Redmayne and Barbarousous, I'm unsure if that's a good thing or not yet....but I'm willing to give them a go, just like I'm giving Ange a go. On that horizon, I see a large imposing figure, the football myth, the football legend that is the mysterious Arab investors.
When there is a new season there is always hope. That is why I am a Roar tragic because just like in Brokeback Mountain "I wish I could quit you" but I can't (please exclude the homoerotic undertones in that analogy....ha....I said analogy and homoerotic in the same sentence).
Roar is in my blood, despite all the failure and unfulfilled promise that is involved in being a Roar fan, it could still be worse.
You could be a [please enter your rival a league club here] fan, cause we all know their mothers [enter vague insult regarding fan's mother].
My name is Matt, I am a Roar Fan and it is three months to preseason.
