Oar lauds team spirit as Roar head ‘home’
BRISBANE Roar winger Tommy Oar says the club’s off-field instability hasn’t affected the playing group who are set to return “home” to Ballymore.
The Gold Coast product is preparing to play his second season since his return to the Roar after a five-year stint in Europe, where he plied his trade at world-class facilities at Holland’s FC Utrecht and more recently England’s Ipswich Town.
He returned to Australia to recapture his best form at his former club but found it in turmoil off the field with owners the Bakrie Group putting Brisbane on the edge of financial ruin multiple times.
Oar and his teammates spent the last season training at Griffith University’s Nathan Campus in Brisbane, a field shared by club football and American rules, and still managed to reach the semifinals.
The 24-year-old said the issues hadn’t affected the playing group but with the Roar set to finally make Ballymore their full-time training base again the side was looking forward to having access to facilities suitable for a professional team.
“As a playing group we are sheltered from everything that goes on,” Oar said.
“The coaches have done a fantastic job and as a player my sole focus is on the field.
“That’s my only concern and everything off the field is out of our control but to be honest it hasn’t affected us as a playing group.
“When I was at the Roar five or six years ago we were training at Ballymore as well and it’s a place we are all familiar with and we feel at home there so I think all the boys are excited to go back.”
The Socceroo is back at home on the Gold Coast training with the Roar who will play Sydney FC in a behind-closed-doors trial at Cbus Super Stadium today.
It comes just weeks after the side played Western Sydney Wanderers at the venue in what was Oar’s first stint at football at home in six years. It came six years after Oar’s last stint at football on the Coast when he was preparing to make his Australian debut against Indonesia. “It’s always nice to come back and it brings back some good memories,” Oar said.
It has been an up and down few years since that debut for Oar who found success in Holland before struggling to adapt to the football in England.
Oar admitted he was starting to find his feet again with Brisbane at the end of last season and was ready to return to his best in the 2016-17 A-League season.
“I’m confident this year I can stay on the pitch and hopefully have a bit impact.”