Pre match. Round 1. Pies v. Lions - all comments.

[Brown26]

Christensen, Zorko, Aish and Rich are not great midfielders. They're not bad, but they're not great. They could be muttered in the same breath as Adams, Varcoe, Williams, De Goey. And they're no where near Pendles, Swan and Sidebottom.

So it's pretty even in the middle, and we smash them in KPP. I guess it just becomes who wants it more then? If out mids get up, it's all over red rover, but if they get on top then it's a lot of pressure on our back line. Good team for wet weather footy too I reckon, but if it's fine interesting to see Gault likely to come in.

I hope we win this one just to re establish ourselves with a bit of belief - we DO have one of the best midfields going round and we should play that way. We DO have a potent forward line (if they ever get their fingers out of their butts) and we should kick massive scores. It's time we showed the AFL world what we've got!

- Ben

[Jezza]

The day has finally arrived! It's been a long wait but I'm looking forward to this despite the pessimistic attitudes I may have espoused about our team's chances this year to be successful during the off-season. All I ask for is that the boys play with pride and determination and hopefully then the result will take care of itself.

Some elements of the line-up are a little contentious but round 1 always springs up surprises like that and since some disagree with the current line-up as they see it for this week but there will be plenty of spots up for grabs as we head into round 2 if players don't perform tonight.

The Lions midfield is probably deeper than ours especially with Rockliff and Beams leading the way but we have three outstanding midfielders in Pendles, Swan and Sidebottom who will be pivotal if we can win tonight or not.

The forward line set up may look ordinary for us but the Lions forward set up looks atrocious and many have noted that the Lions' KPPs are quite weak in the context of the league as a whole so we need the defence to do its bit and reduce the Lions ability to score heavily and to see Cloke actually have an impact for once without being tag-teamed consistently. Pearce Hanley is a big loss for them so we need to exploit that absence to our advantage.

Oxley and Ramsay will need to perform and while Blair's inclusion into the side has come under fire yet again I don't see him being dropped any time soon by the current coaching staff unless he plays an absolute shocker.

Apparently it's going to rain so expect a scrappy affair assuming the weather forecast from BOM is correct.

http://www.bom.gov.au/qld/forecasts/brisbane.shtml

[BazBoy]

They have tipped Brisbane 25 for the win and Collingwood 4 for the win
Let,s show em boys and as Teddy would say "Stick it up em"

[mattys123]

Footy is back finally, so good.

I think we can win tonight, there's plenty of negativity going around but in the end we are playing against a bottom 6 side, all be it on their home ground.

They will improve this season, but so must we, that's all I want to see, is gradual improvement.

[MJ23]

[roar]

[Woods]

Brissy weather forecast for today.

Temp: 27 (max).
Cloudy.
Very high (95%) chance of showers.
The chance of a thunderstorm.
Light winds becoming easterly 15 to 20 km/h in the middle of the day,
then becoming light in the late afternoon.

Going to be a slippy slidey game. The team that can control ball handling will have a big advantage.

Regardless of the first half score board, I think the game will be won by the team that can go hard late when fatigue really sets in (the second half of the first game of the year is always the toughest).

The combination of warm temp and high humidity will gift the probability of a win to the last men standing. I hope those men are wearing the B&W.

A game to reap the rewards of a good pre-season preparation.

[didick]

So damn sticky and steamy here today. Has to be a storm brewing again. Go Pies! Hydrate!

[Pies2016]

Wet weather footy hasnt changed in 100 years. Get to the contest first and push it forward however you can. Big bodies ( but not KPPs ) are a must.
I reckon that explains a bit about broomhead and gault not being named.
Tailor made for adams and crisp. I just reckon these boys will play a big part in the outcome ( assuming we win )

Stick it up em, Pies.

[watt price tully]

Ready for TV watching tonight.
Just about to leave work & ride home. Yippee 2 days off & a Collingwood victory.

Go Pies.

[Dave The Man]

[What'sinaname]

[Leggie]

Pies by around 4 goals. Go boys.

[WarrenerraW]

Come on Pies we need something get excited about. It's been a pretty miserable off season. Tooves reckons that the team are united and prepared to win after all the crap we'be been through, lets hope he's right. Brisbane are scum. Hope we smash them.

[John Wren]

sam mayes is brisbane sub.