WITH the Roar having been largely dismissed as a title contender, it’s perhaps no surprise that no Brisbane players have cracked the top 10 in News Corp Australia’s annual top 50 A-League players list.

After vigorous debate between Australia’s leading football writers, the Roar’s French marquee man Eric Bautheac was Brisbane’s highest-ranked player at 14.

Bautheac was closely followed by fellow attacking weapon and Roar off-season signing Adam Taggart, who is 15th on the list.

The Roar are then not featured until No.31, a position occupied by Jamie Young, who was last season voted the A-League’s best goalkeeper.

Former Melbourne City midfielder Stefan Mauk, another of Brisbane’s off-season recruits, is five places below at 36, ahead of the final Roar player on the list in former Greek international defender Avraam Papadopoulos at 43.

Brisbane players who could consider themselves stiff to miss out on the top 50 include Danish pair Thomas Kristensen and Tobias Mikkelsen, and Spanish midfielder Alex Lopez, a late pre-season arrival.

It comes as no shock that the list is topped by Japanese superstar Keisuke Honda.

The Melbourne Victory recruit ­– who scored at this year’s World Cup and whose previous clubs include Italian giants AC Milan –­ is one of the biggest signings in A-League history.