2026-27 A-Leagues Season Preview- Zac Anderson interview
Oct 13, 2026 · 15 min · 11 segments
Ahead of the 2026-27 A-League Men's season, we sat down for a chat with Brisbane Roar Chief Operating Officer Zac Anderson.
Oct 13, 2026 · 15 min · 11 segments
Ahead of the 2026-27 A-League Men's season, we sat down for a chat with Brisbane Roar Chief Operating Officer Zac Anderson.
Zac AndersonGuest
Kurt McDonaldShow Opening HostHostCo-HostHost
Zach, so it's been a huge off-season for the club with a significant player departures across both men's and the women's teams, the appointment of a new sporting director and a new head coach for the women's side.
How would you summarise the off-season and how significant has this been of a period of time for the club?
If you separate both the men's and the women's program, the women's program is always quite transitional.
When I arrived here three or four years ago, there was not one player that didn't have a multi-year deal.
Now with the women's players, the majority of the players are on multi-year deals.
You don't have as much transition, but with Alex Smith's departure, which it's the best thing when you have players who go on to bigger and better things or coaches who go on to bigger and better things.
I think for Smitty to go to America was a great thing for the club to show that we're bringing through coaches and to bring Jono's appointment just brings a new energy and a new life to the women's program, a different voice, a different way of thinking about things.
But the most important thing, as you alluded to, was the appointment of James Gale.
And the reason for that is we wanted to move away from a coach-driven model and focus more on a club-driven model.
And what I mean by that is coaches are going to come and go, players are going to come and go, but what can't come and go is the identity and the way that we want to play.
to start to solidify exactly the way we want to play across all the programs, the men's team, the women's team, and the B team.
And so that started with the appointment of Jono, and then that worked then into what we did in the off-season for the men's team.
So you've seen a big shift in terms of the players who have come in both programs, but we're really confident now with the appointment of James Gale that we're really clear on the way that we want to be known as a football club, but...
Zach, so it's been a huge off-season for the club with a significant player departures across both men's and the women's teams, the appointment of a new sporting director and a new head coach for the women's side.
How would you summarise the off-season and how significant has this been of a period of time for the club?
If you separate both the men's and the women's program, the women's program is always quite transitional.
When I arrived here three or four years ago, there was not one player that didn't have a multi-year deal.
Now with the women's players, the majority of the players are on multi-year deals.
You don't have as much transition, but with Alex Smith's departure, which it's the best thing when you have players who go on to bigger and better things or coaches who go on to bigger and better things.
I think for Smitty to go to America was a great thing for the club to show that we're bringing through coaches and to bring Jono's appointment just brings a new energy and a new life to the women's program, a different voice, a different way of thinking about things.
But the most important thing, as you alluded to, was the appointment of James Gale.
And the reason for that is we wanted to move away from a coach-driven model and focus more on a club-driven model.
And what I mean by that is coaches are going to come and go, players are going to come and go, but what can't come and go is the identity and the way that we want to play.
to start to solidify exactly the way we want to play across all the programs, the men's team, the women's team, and the B team.
And so that started with the appointment of Jono, and then that worked then into what we did in the off-season for the men's team.
So you've seen a big shift in terms of the players who have come in both programs, but we're really confident now with the appointment of James Gale that we're really clear on the way that we want to be known as a football club, but...
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