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In his two years with Newcastle, Vidic scored just one goal in 13 A-League appearances, 12 of which were off the bench. With Mark Milligan taking over as Jets coach from Robbie Stanton, 21-year-old Vidic wasn’t offered a new deal. With his professional career in danger of stalling, Vidic jumped at the chance to trial with Brisbane, with his efforts securing him a two-year deal with the Roar, where his hard-working, old-fashioned style suits the Queensland club’s simple and physical tactics under coach Michael Valkanis. “These things happen for a reason,” said Vidic ahead of the Roar-Jets battle at Sunshine Coast Stadium. “I’m sure I’ll show my quality. I don’t think I have anything to prove to them. They know what I’m capable of, and there are lots of people at the club that I still speak to and that I’m still close to. “They know my potential and I want to show them that on Sunday.” Vidic has started in two of Brisbane’s three matches this season, and opened his A-League account for his new club with a goal in the Roar’s 2-1 loss to Wellington last month. “Starting in our past two games has been good for me. It’s what I’ve been working towards. I worked really hard in the off-season, and I just want to keep putting my best foot forward, do everything I can for the club, help the team win games and score,” he said. “We’re definitely not going to let anyone walk over us and we’re always going to be up for a battle. “That’s what we’ve implemented since day one of the pre-season. Playing our style of football, that comes first, but if a team wants to fight and scrap and play hard, we’ll be there to match them for sure. “This new team, this new staff and this new culture that there is at the club, it’s very positive and we’re just going to keep showing that throughout the season.” Roar coach Michael Valkanis continues to make no apologies for his team’s physicality, which has helped the uncompromising Brisbane secure four points from its three matches this season. “We want to play a brand of football that wins games,” Valkanis said. “We’ve done our homework on (Newcastle) and we’ll be ready to go.”
