The Roar showed real desire and energy throughout an entertaining contest in front of almost 20,000 fans at Suncorp Stadium, with Toffees boss David Moyes even offering the hosts praise after the game.

Postecoglou, who took the reigns at Brisbane midway through last season, insists if the Roar can produce consistent performances of that standard, they'll be a force to be reckoned with this A-League campaign.

"I think we pushed them really hard tonight which shows to the players if we maintain those sort of standards during the A-League then obviously we'll do well," he said.

"I thought we did give them a game. It wasn't just close on the scoreboard, we actually played some good football."

Everton required new signing Magaye Gueye's 82nd minute goal to win the contest, after Kosta Barbarouses had levelled the scores midway through the second-half.

Postecoglou added about Gueye's winner: "I thought we were a bit unlucky because Matty Smith was down in the middle of the park.

"He copped a bit of a knock and it left us out of wack, one player short at the back. They got in behind us a little bit, it was one of those situations where it was very hard to defend.

"Their first goal was a quality goal and I guess that's a good sign too, we didn't give anything away cheap. I thought our goal was a fantastic, well-worked goal.

"They're a quality team, we just had a little bit of a lapse for a moment and they punished us."

On the whole, though, Postecoglou was pleased with his players' effort and performance.

"We really worked very, very hard to make sure we pressured them and didn't let them get into any rhythm or tempo," he said. "The boys, to their credit, did it right to the end.

"We said before the game we didn't want to sit back and get a result for the sake of it, we actually wanted to play some football and I think we did.

"I didn't want us to just go out there and put 10 people in front of our box and play defensively and hopefully get a cheap result.

"I wanted to try and play the football we're going to play in the A-League and just test ourselves against quality opposition.

"Whether we could keep possession of the ball, whether we could play through the midfield and try and get our better ball-players in good attacking areas.

"We took some risks and there was a couple of times in the first-half we gave the ball away in dangerous areas, but that's because we were trying to play."

Everton boss Moyes acknowledged post-match that Brisbane had made it difficult for his side.

"I thought they'd done well," he said. "I thought they showed great energy.

"It was terrific the amount of energy Brisbane showed, running about, closing us down.

"Their style, they were very expansive in their play, they worked hard."

The Brisbane boss, though, admits there's still work to be done before the A-League season kicks off in early August.

"The team's working very hard," he said. "The players have really taken to the task from day one.

"The gelling of the team, we've still got a little bit of work to do and we've still got a little bit of improvement in us before the season starts, but certainly the signs were good today."

The Roar will play their final pre-season match on Sunday week when they face the Newcastle Jets in Port Macquarie.