A FINAL plea by Sydney FC coach Vitezslav Lavicka yesterday morning was not enough to persuade Matt Jurman from going back on his word to sign for Brisbane Roar, with the deal finally announced today after a week of speculation.

The two-year contract was long thought to have been settled but Lavicka in his press conference after Wednesday's 2-0 win over Wellington Phoenix indicated that Jurman's mind was not yet made up.

Lavicka said there was a ''good chance'' the club would be able to keep the Australian under-20 representative and that he ''still believed'' the youngster would stay with the club next season.

However, Jurman informed Lavicka after training yesterday that his switch to the newly-crowned A-League minor premiers was a done deal and that he would not be swayed to stay with Sydney. Jurman has only recently broken into the first team after almost two seasons of biding his time on the bench.

Roar coach Ange Postecoglou said he was confident Jurman was capable of filling the hole left by Luke DeVere, who joined Korean side Gyeongnam FC last month.