Soccer: Brisbane want to Roar in Asia

Not content with dominating the A-League, newly crowned premiers Brisbane Roar now want to conquer Asia.

Fresh from winning the premier's plate after second-placed Central Coast's 1-1 draw with Melbourne Heart on Friday night, the Roar - cellar dwellers last season - are confident they can continue their remarkable rise in the 2012 Asian Champions League.

Coach Ange Postecoglou hailed Brisbane's wonderful effort to grab the club's first trophy with two matches still to play, but was quick to warn they were far from finished.

While he rated the premiership a bigger achievement than the championship, Postecoglou said the Roar were determined to double up with a grand final win and more success in Australia and Asia in 2011-12.

"For me, the whole Asian Champions League ... it's not about just playing and participating in it. I want to win it and that's what I want to prepare us for," he said. "I think that's where the massive carrot lies for us.

"If we end up doing well and winning that the possibilities for this club are endless."

In five years of ACL action, Adelaide United have been the only Australian club to have made a splash in Asia, reaching the final in 2008.

"Every club has prepared to do well but, apart from Adelaide, hasn't made any in-roads," Postecoglou said. "There's no point being one of these clubs, like many in the A-League, who have gone up one year and then fallen in the next.

"That won't do us any good, we'll have to be a top-two or three club again and that will be our first priority before the ACL."

The challenge to translate Brisbane's vibrant passing game to the ACL will have a double advantage for Postecoglou as it helps him keep the bulk of his squad together for an extra year.

But first, the Roar, who are in the middle of an Australian record 23-match unbeaten streak, are determined to clean sweep the competition with a grand final win to gain even more credibility.

"From my point of view, we're champions," the coach said. "At the end of a long season, over 30 games, to be on top is what it's all about. I think now the unbeaten record takes more significance and the way we have played takes on more significance."

While they are yet to know their major semifinal opponents, with the second-placed Mariners holding a four-point advantage over Adelaide before Adelaide's match with the Phoenix last night, the Roar will start the two-leg play-off away on February 18. AAP