Listen. Do you want to know a secret? Do you promise not to tell? Closer. Let me whisper in your ear the words you long to hear – Thomas Broich is Roar’s marquee, woohoohoo-hoo!

That’s right, ladies and gents and everyone in between. In the second half of the last A-league campaign, unbeknownst to even the most rabid Roar supporters, the Brisbane club made their mop-topped, midfield maestro marquee.

You’d think such news might’ve elicited Beatlemaniac screams coupled with the obligatory fainting fits that followed the fab four – hence my channelling of the Liverpudlians’ lyrics in the opening paragraph – but alas nary a sore throat nor a mild dizzy spell eventuated.

Why? The reason is simple. Brisbane Roar appear to have plum forgot to pass on the good news; Broich’s marquee status only coming to light this week as a consequence of Erik Paartalu’s protracted contract negotiations being unflatteringly played out in the media.

When asked why they didn’t publicise Broich’s change in salary status at the time, the club told me there was “no reason”. It just wasn’t. End of.

Of course, this response is unlikely to satisfy amateur A-League aficionados. After all, many of us football fans are proud pathological paranoids with pervasive persecution complexes eager to read between the lines at any opportunity.

And while I want to stress that there is absolutely no suggestion of impropriety by the club in its monetary manoeuvrings, I would have to agree with those who’ve suggested that on the surface it does seem odd that the story wasn’t publicised at the time.

After all, Roar’s first marquee appointment since Craig Moore amounts to more than just a predictable PR puff piece plus prerequisite photo op – it’s a bloody great bit of business by the Bakrie-era Brisbane back office, a distinct contrast to how things were handled in the past.

As I see it, the most talented footballer in the entire country, as evidenced by the Johnny Warren Medal that dangles from his taut Teutonic neck, has been officially recognised for his contributions on the pitch in that grandest of capitalist traditions – economic exceptionalism. Woohoohoo-hoo!

As a result, Broich’s elevated salary status reportedly freed up enough space under the cap to enable Roar to negotiate contract extensions for club captain Matt Smith and Albania international Besart Berisha.

In my admittedly biased opinion, this is the finest example of the marquee system being used to its full effect in the history of the A-League, overshadowing the acquisitions of Dwight Yorke, Robbie Fowler and even Harry Kewell in prior seasons.

Not only has it allowed Roar to hold on to its irrepressible playmaker, but also the heart of its central defence and its golden boot winning striker, ensuring the club remains a finals force for at least one more season if not longer.

Further, this marquee deal is not a gamble like so many that have come before. Broich’s value in both a marketing and football sense is organic and proven, his distinction as club marquee an adequate reward for a player that has proved his worth and endeared himself to the fans.

Unlike some previous marquee signings at other clubs, Broich cannot be viewed as an aging and largely ineffectual import looking for one final pay day in a perceived football backwater.

He may not garner the headlines others did previously off the pitch – Broich is as unlikely as your hermetic and unphotogenic blogger to appear in the gossip columns or the society pages – but the publicity he generates for the club and the league on the pitch courtesy of his skill more than make up for it.

Without Broich, or Smith or Berisha for that matter, it is doubtful Roar could have pulled off back-to-back titles. The value of those two trophies as a promotional tool alone being worth more than a big name player appearing for a club that fails to even make the finals series.

Imagine, therefore, what a third successive grand final victory would mean.

Meanwhile, if you really do wish to know more about the man behind the marquee, as the tabloids would have us believe we do, Broich has already laid his story bare in the award winning documentary Tom Meets Zizou. And, in an example of a money making marquee, the club would likely suggest that you purchase the DVD via the official club store – ka-ching!

Of course, all this augers well for the retention of Paartalu, who’s contractual consternations brought the information to light in the first place.

Brisbane still holds a further vacant marquee spot on their books and if they were to use it to reward and retain another popular and proven performer like Paartalu then I would welcome it. My only suggestion being that if they do, they might treat it with a little more fan fair.

To revert back to my earlier Beatles references, the club should take to the rooftop and sing it out loud and proud. Even if, unlike Broich, Paartalu doesn’t have the haircut to make the allusion work – unless you count Stuart Sutcliffe, of course.

Then again, to this day not enough people are aware of the not-so-fab fifth Beatle. Much like how not enough people were made aware Thomas Broich is the Roar’s marquee man.