Returning to Brisbane from holidays late last week, the 24 year-old immediately hit the training paddock with his new team-mates.

Enjoying the pre-season program designed by the Brisbane coaching staff, Paartalu said he was already being challenged both physically and mentally.

"Pre-season training has been great," Paartalu said. "I went for a session on Friday and it was all running, but it was always with the ball which was really good.

"It makes training a lot easier ... it's not just boring and dull.

"It also makes you think, because in a game you are going to be tired and you're going to get the ball and have to think how to use it.

"So the training is really mentally demanding as well."

More accustomed to the short, sharp pre-seasons dominating Scottish football, the tall screening midfielder said the Roar's training sessions were a breath of fresh air.

"The Roar have had a lot of time to prepare which makes it easier to tailor to what the players need individually," he said.

"Whereas in Europe you only get a short time to prepare and you're thrown in the deep end straight away."

Six weeks behind the rest of the Brisbane squad in the pre-season schedule, Paartalu has admitted it will be a few weeks before he is happy with his fitness levels.

However, with his training regime expected to be ramped up in coming weeks, Paartalu is confident of being ready to fire against Gold Coast United on the opening day of the 2010-11 Hyundai A-League.

"I've got a good base ... generally I'm quite a fit guy," he said. "I've only been here a short time and while it's been intense, I've been treated properly and recovered properly so hopefully I can make big gains fitness wise in the coming weeks.

"But its small steps, the season is still two months away, so I won't push myself too hard and hopefully I'm at my peak for the first game of the season."

In further good news for the club, Paartalu was joined by Ivan Franjic, Rocky Visconte and Shane Stefanutto on the training field.

Both Visconte and Stefanutto joined in their first full training sessions of the year, while Franjic returned after overcoming a slight injury.

In other news, Brisbane Roar has helped spread a message of hope and healing after running out 2-0 winners against an African Invitational XI side in the George Wani Fundraising match at Goodwin Park.

Pushed all the way by the spirited invitational side, the Roar were eventual winners through goals to Massimo Murdocca and Henrique.

However, the true winner was the injured George Wani - a talented Souths United player who was severely injured in a recent road accident at Sunnybank Hills.

Having sustained serious head injuries, the 19 year-old has slowly been recuperating at the Prince Alexandra Hospital.

But despite enduring a painful recovery, a smile returned to the face of Wani when nearly 1800 people gathered to support the fundraising match.

Offering gold coin donations, the local community was able to raise $3500 to help the Wani family pay for the mounting medical expenses.

Ready and willing to lend a helping hand to the football fraternity, the Brisbane Roar returned to its grass-roots family as a part of its ‘Queensland Roars Against Racism' campaign.

"The whole evening was a fantastic advertisement for football," Brisbane CEO Peter McLennan said.

"Brisbane's football community across all levels turned out to support a very worthy cause and Brisbane Roar was very proud to have been a part of it.

"Not only were we able to raise some important funds for George and his family, but bring together a culturally diverse group of people through football."

And the love of the generous community did not stop with Wani, as $840 worth of donations were made for little Koorine Law-Douglas - a seven year-old suffering from a range of physical difficulties.