Royce Brownlie and Richard Greer will be back in the dugouts as usual at Wolter Park on Sunday – but this time 30 metres apart.
For three years they worked closely together, first as head coach and player at Logan, then head coach and assistant coach at Moreton Bay United.
The partnership ended in December when Richard left to take charge of Redlands, believing it was time to “push himself to the next level”.
But who would have put money on his first NPL Qld match in charge being back here against Moreton Bay United (kick-off 4pm)?
“When the fixtures came out I thought it was a stitch up!” said Jets' head coach Royce.
“Rich and I have been working together for three years and have a great understanding of how we each think.
“Now we rock up to round one to see who is going to make the first move, like a game of chess.
“We are both extremely competitive and I’m sure this will be one hell of a first game!” Together they almost got Logan promoted in 2019 and steered Jets to fifth in the NPL Qld last season.
They still speak regularly, usually once a week, but in the countdown to Sunday’s clash, Richard said: “We haven’t really spoken this week.
“I was excited (at the draw) and said to Royce I was glad my first game was against him.
“He has shaped me a lot as a coach so it is probably deserving for us both that my first head coaching game at this level is against him. “It will be very different but we both knew at some point I was going to have go on and push myself to the next level.
“I jokingly told him recently we should just combine benches and still sit next to each other.”
Despite knowing each other’s “ideas and principles”, Richard said having new squads and players would be a factor in the game.
“I am very happy with the squad we have managed to put together,” he said, “we have a young and hungry group of players that are wanting an opportunity to prove themselves.”