Words: Michael Flynn
Image: Paul Smith

SWQ Thunder coach Chris McLeod says his squad is ready to finally step off the bottom of the table in 2016 and is counting on some Brazilian flair to do it.

Thunder this week confirmed a 20 player squad for the upcoming season – which sees the club still searching for a breakthrough league win at senior level after two frustrating campaigns in the national second tier.

McLeod is Thunder’s third coach in three seasons and said that under his stewardship the team will be heavily influenced by his passion for the philosophies of Brazilian club Botafago, with whom he maintains a close professional relationship.

“We want to mould them as a unit – defend as a unit and attack as unit and, without giving too much away about how we will score goals, it’s possession based,” McLeod explained.

“It’s based on the methodologies I have incorporated from experience with Botofago – it’s a Brazilian mentality.”

“We want to make sure we don’t concede too many goals but we are there to entertain as well. We have a little bit of flair across the park and a good spine we can build a team around.”

Despite the nod to samba football, Thunder’s squad doesn’t include any players with any direct ties to the South American world football powerhouse.

McLeod said his recruitment policy was about strengthening key positions and adding some much needed experience to a team that has consistently been the youngest in the competition over the past two campaigns.

“When we starting putting our squad together it was about adding some seniority to what has been a very young squad the past few years,” McLeod explained.

“They’ve been brave and they’ve been close at times, but some weeks you get a good week out of them and some weeks you don’t.”

“Hopefully with the senior players around we can get a few more consistent performances.”

To that end, Thunder have added PlayStation 4 NPL Queensland 2015 Premiership winning goalkeeper Luke Borean from Moreton Bay United and attackers Ben Barrowclift and Kevin Doyle from local Toowoomba Premier League club Willowburn.

Providing further emphasis in the attacking third are Mustafa Jafari and Majok Piok who previously played with Olympic FC and Western Pride, respectively, as well as Wellington Phoenix youth product Xavier Pratt, who played in the New Zealand's top tier domestic competition.

McLeod said he also expected returning fan favourites Keagan Sheridan, Jacob Bigby, Tom Fanning, Mitch Tansky and Anthony Grant to take further strides in their development.

Despite the challenges of blending the squad and implementing a new style, McLeod remains optimistic about where the team will finish in 2016.

However, he wouldn’t reveal precisely how high he believes the team can rise up the table.

“I’ve been around football long enough and I’m not naïve enough to (set a target). For us we as a playing group and as a coaching staff we know what we want to achieve."

“We want to win every game of football whenever we step on to the pitch but whether that’s realistic? Well, the football gods often decide that,” he concluded.

SWQ Thunder FC 2016 Squad – PlayStation 4 National Premier Leagues

Luke BOREAN, Lachlan ATKINSON, Keagan SHERIDAN, Joel THORNTON, Mitch TANSKY, Ben BARROWCLIFT, Mustafa JAFARI, Jackson HAUSLER, Kevin DOYLE, Tom FANNING, Majok PIOK, Adam DALY, Rowan SALOMON, Jacob BIGBY, Jack PERCY, Matt HULL, Xavier PRATT, Anthony GRANT, Matt CAREY, Jayden FORMOSA