Robbie's back and ready to Roar

Published 6:00am 4 February 2023

Robbie Kruse, who went from Pine Rivers to the greatest stages in world football, has re-joined A-League Brisbane Roar.

Capped 75 times by the Socceroos, 34-year-old Kruse could make his second Roar debut in tonight’s A-League match at Adelaide United.

Coopers Stadium will be a far cry from the junior fields at Pine Rivers United and Albany Creek Excelsior (ACE).

“(Coach) Warren (Moon) was really persistent in getting me to come down and I think my experience can really rub off on the younger guys,” the former Petrie resident said.

Helping hand

“So I’m really looking forward to it and helping the team as much as I can.”

Kruse, a striker or winger, played for the QAS (2004-05) and AIS (2005-06) before starting his professional career at Brisbane Roar in 2007/08. He left Melbourne Victory in 2009/10.

After two seasons, Kruse was snapped up by the German Bundesliga, playing for Dusseldorf, Leverkusen, VfB Stuttgart and finally VfL Bochum.

He returned to Australia for second stint with Victory to reach a club career, to date, of 242 competitive appearances, 34 goals and 34 assists.

Robbie Kruse being put through his paces at Roar this week.

World Cup

Kruse also played for Australia Under 17, Australia Under 20 and the senior Socceroos from 2011-2019, missing the 2014 World Cup Finals through injury but he was selected for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

Having been out with injury for the past nine months, Kruse is now focused on finishing this Isuzu UTE A-League campaign with Brisbane on a high note.

“Coming off the knee injury I had last season, I had to do all the right things to give myself the best chance because I didn’t want to come back if I couldn’t contribute anything to the club,” the former Kurwongbah State School student said.

“The (A-League) table is so jam-packed if you win two games, you really catapult up the ladder so obviously last game was disappointing, but you can get a couple of those throughout a season.

Robbie Kruse in training with Roar this week

'Real asset'

“Hopefully I can make impact off the bench in the time that I play, and obviously the goal is to play finals football so hopefully we can do that.”

Head Coach Warren Moon believes Kruse’s experience in the final third will be a real asset to his squad.

“When he’s fully fit, this guy has the ability to really make things happen, which will help us,” Moon said.

“Looking at the stats, Robbie is one of the highest rated players in the league in terms of chance creation, so we’re looking forward to seeing what he can do for us.”