Brisbane midfielder Luke Brattan might get some fatherly advice ahead of Friday's semi-final, but what he wants most is to exact revenge on Western Sydney.
Brisbane Roar midfielder Luke Brattan can chat to his father about football finals experiences anytime he wants, but what he wants most this Friday night is to exact some revenge on Western Sydney Wanderers.
Brisbane-s shock loss in round four to the competition-s new boys was in many ways the start of a downward spiral that threatened to derail their title defence and Brattan is adamant his teammates have neither forgotten nor forgiven the Wanderers.
“We are confident of the win, we have the momentum and have a bit of revenge in mind for the Wanderers for them taking three in a row over us, everyone is up for this,” Brattan tells footballaustralia.com.au.
“Looking back, we had a lot of things happening at the club and a lot of changes back then as well, but we have turned it around and are hitting our form now and the most important time of the season to hit form is now, anything can happen.”
While the Wanderers are chasing history so are the Roar, the dream of an improbable three-peat still alive in the unpredictable nature of finals football, and with star midfielder Thomas Broich set to play, Brattan believes confidence is seeping from the pores of the Brisbane players, suggesting a week off of football may have hurt their opponents.
“If anything it (their week off) will work in our favour because we have been playing, and we will jump out the gates early, put the pressure on and if we play our football and play our way we can beat anyone in the league,” he says.
“Thomas is an unbelievable player and he is just hitting form which is perfect for us, he can change a game in a matter of minutes, he is a professional and he is not going to go on 80 per cent, I think he will be back and do his thing.”
Brattan has also been enjoying a surge of form under Roar coach Mike Mulvey, knocking the passes (short or long) to his teammates and linking defence with attack, even scoring his maiden Hyundai A-League goal last weekend, he thinks that improved ball movement from Roar could play a vital role in breaking down the Wanderers.
“They-re not at the top of the table for no reason. They are a wonderful side and have done an unbelievable job, they are fairly organised, get behind the ball early and teams find it hard to break them down, but if we move the ball well at the pace we are capable of then we can get in-behind them.
“I know they are organised, but they do have a couple of weaknesses and we will look to exploit them.”
Brattan himself is just looking to enjoy the semi-final and believes that-s what his father will be telling him before the game; Gary Brattan, a regular for Heidelberg United in the old NSL, played his share of sudden death matches and Brattan admits he owes much of his success to his old man, who has given him a wealth of advice.
“He-s good because he has been there and done that, he-s had a big influence on my career and has taught me everything I know,” Brattan says.
“He has always got good information for me and will offer me advice because he has been through plenty in his career, but he has kept quiet this week… he-ll definitely have something to say to me before the game, but he-ll probably just say ‘enjoy it-.”
One gets the feeling Brattan junior might just do that as the Roar go searching for three grand finals in a row.