The diminuitive Zullo, secured from local outfit Brisbane City, is delighted
to sign for his home town club.

He said: “I’ve been training here for months and I was never sure what the
future was going to hold for me, so to get the news that the club was going
to offer me a deal was a major thrill.

“The boss called me into his office and I just thought he was going to have
a talk with me, so to walk out of there with a contract offer was fantastic;
it hasn’t really sunk in yet.

“I’ve worked hard and trained hard and that has paid off, but now the
challenge for me is to step up and go to the next level of football.

“Training and playing with such good players is demanding and it will teach
me so much. The senior pro’s expect a lot and you have to deliver.”

Coach Farina is also delighted to have a player on board who spent time in
Peru with the Joeys in 2005.

The Roar boss said: “He’s young, enthusiastic, left-sided and going past
people is natural to his game. Michael is only 18 so he has a lot to learn,
but we think he can continue to improve in this environment. His strengths
are going at defenders, his pace and willingness to work hard for the ball.

“For his size he’s aggressive, never pulls out of tackles and works very
hard on the pitch. I told him yesterday that this was only the beginning for
him and he realises that. He has some good players here to learn from so if
he can knuckle down and work hard then he has a good future.”

Roar’s roster now has five players under 20 years-old and looks set to reap
the rewards of Farina’s youth policy in the coming years.

“I’ve always maintained that if we have a good core of experienced players
and surround them with good, enthusiastic youngsters, we will have the
ingredients for success,” Farina said.