New Brisbane captain Jay O’Shea desperate to reverse the Roar’s fortunes

Brisbane’s new skipper has some unfinished business to take care of before be considers retiring from football.

Brisbane’s veteran new captain Jay O’Shea has no intention of retiring until the Roar are again an A-League force.

Following the off-season departure of the club’s long-time skipper Tom Aldred, 36-year-old O’Shea – one of the competition’s finest midfielders – has been appointed club captain.

And despite being in the latter stages of his career, the classy Irishman – who joined the Roar in 2019 after a distinguished stint in England – has some unfinished business to take care of before he hangs up his boots.

“I have two years left on my contract, so hopefully I won’t be retiring this year, and hopefully there’s a few more years left in me,” he said.

“I want to be a great captain of this club, and push this club towards finals again because the last few years it hasn’t been good enough. That’s what I'll be aiming to do.”

The Roar haven’t played finals football since the 2020-21 season. Since then, they have been among the A-League’s also-rans.

However, ahead of their first game of the new season on Saturday against competition newcomers Auckland FC at Go Media Stadium, O’Shea is confident of a Brisbane revival despite the Roar having a smaller budget to work with than a host of their A-League rivals.

Prepared to give everything for Brisbane 👊

Preview & Press Conference → https://t.co/tsAGoSLjATpic.twitter.com/r9b5byDBfw

— Brisbane Roar FC (@brisbaneroar) October 18, 2024

“If you’re doing things right, I don’t think money should be an issue,” he said.

“It’s great to have big players coming in like Sydney FC have done with Douglas Costa and the Wanderers have done with Juan Mata because it’s good exposure for the A-League, but then it’s up to us smaller budget clubs to find a way to beat these bigger budget clubs, and that’s going to be what we’ll have to do.”

O’Shea said the Roar had “done enough” work in scouting Auckland to spoil the new boys’ party on Saturday.

“We’re really looking forward to going out there and putting on a good show,” he said.

Roar boss Ruben Zadkovich is relishing his duel with Auckland coach Steve Corica, with the pair having been teammates at Sydney FC.

“He was a really good mentor to me when I was (at Sydney) as a young player learning the ropes,” Zadkovich.

“He was one of those guys that took the time and the effort to be there and support me.

“I’ve got a good relationship with Steve ... and may the best man win.”

Recent Roar signing Rafael Struick is set to back up from international duty earlier this week for Indonesia, while another of Brisbane’s late pre-season arrivals, 21-year-old Ecuadorian winger Neicer Acosta, is in contention to start on Saturday.