The gradual increase in the salary cap has allowed Frank Farina to keep his finds and buy new talent. This has allowed for the recruitment of a wealth of experienced and young talent. The surprise return of Reinaldo may have weighted the team towards attack and the squad now looks strong across the park with the exception of the defence.

Farina seems to be setting the team up to play at least two systems. To keep the shock and awe fresh, he may play cat-and-mouse as to when the young guns will be applied. I think we all learnt last year that teams worked to bully and close down Zullo and Kruse once their skills and danger were known. Therefore the ability to spring the wide wingers as a surprise against a tiring opposition defence - used to short passing between van Dijk and Smits or Reinaldo - may turn out to be a real asset.

The purchase of van Dijk is a great move as he clearly can score, but also shows just how strong the Dutch roots of our club are. It has also been a surprise that we haven’t seen Tahj Minniecon in the pre-season and that he has been sent off to young Socceroo’s camp with Mitch Nichols during the opening round. Tahj has been injured but I feel he could really make his mark this year. It is great to have Tommy Oar but he just may be a few seasons from his best. Likewise, I am keen to see 19 year old midfielder Isaka Cernak, but a pre-season injury may mean he will have to wait to show us what he can do.

In the defence, injuries to McCloughan (back for the opening game) and Packer (to miss the first few games in a repeat of last season) exposed the Roar during the Pre-Season Cup. The key signing has been 19 year old Luke de Vere from the AIS. And to-date, de Vere has stood tall, is great in the air, and would be in my team. Roar may miss Sasa Ognenovski’s on-field skill and intimidation but they won’t miss his off-field behaviour and disruption to the squad (remember the lead up to that last Adelaide game?).

Expect to see a lot of the ‘engines’, Murdocca and McKay. McKay will want to score goals this year, while Murdocca has been pushed forward in the pre-season. Of the jack-in-the-boxes Tiatto and Miller, how much brilliance will the A-League allow them to produce and can they keep their cool?

Anyway, the first eleven:

Bench: Robbie Kruse, Michael Zullo, Tim Smits, Tahj Minniecon, Andrew Packer

Kruse could be the best player in the squad, even the A-League, but he will have to exert a new and real mental toughness. And Smits, praised by Kosmina, may fight his way into the starting lineup.

Other players will have a turn, including Mitch Nichols and David Dodd (Karl’s brother) and perhaps Grossman and Griffiths will be given an opportunity to show they can live up to their original promise.