Phoenix v Brisbane Raw. Sunday 21st of Oct

PAX 7500. 

 not bad for a game that's 1 week away.

We need another 10k+ crowd for this one

 talk it up- where's the marketing??

we'll have a tired squad I'd imagine...

good pax this early

 Are they still making those home match posters and putting them up on the website? I used to download and print out half a dozen or so every fortnight and plaster them around work, had a few people talking about the games.

 shall we discuss the Roar's demolition of Victory last night?

 I agree RR, I'm also worried about the general way Brissie play. The love to hold the ball in their attacking third and will make us work very hard to have a sniff at it...

although this year we probably have the best squad we've ever had to play counter attack, with plenty of pace and handy MF's we could actually put some pressure on them.

Melbourne have no Manny, and when up against a similar player (only with more cunt) in Burns Brisbane were average.

I'm scared but don't remotely feel we're doomed.

Perth did essentially have a 5 man midfield on defence to try and shut down Brissy, so for us to have a similar result, our wingers are gonna have to do a lot of work on defense. Not sure if we will continue with the 4132, but if totori does get a start then he's gonna need to improve a bit on d

We have performed pretty well against the Roar in the past. We didn't exactly get the results but we up a better fight than most, frustrated them and kept our shape. We seem to tactically have a handle on them its just a matter of implementing our game plan well and a bit of luck to prevent the Roars brilliance as they are still the best team in the league. (except for us tehe)

Its going to be a struggle. But what news said we're not doomed. They're amazing but not unbeatable. 

 For me Brisbane are the best team in the league. They certainly play the best football. We have a very good chance and I reckon if we can beat then then we can go on to the title.

I am going to be away for that game so I am gutted I will miss it.

Lions v Auckland Saturday night, Phoenix v Brisbane Sunday afternoon. Big weekend for the capital. TopLeft07 will be busy.

No-one's put out their starting line-up yet? Here goes.

           Moss (assuming Paston will still be bung)

Leo Siggy Dura Lochhead

Ifill Smith Manny Fenton

       Stein Brockie

Bench: Spoonley/Basalaj, Totori, Lia, Boyd

I'm tossing up whether Ifill should start or whether he could do with a bit more time to get his touch back.

However totori on defense against the roar worries me.

 Siggy will bait Berisha into a Red in the first 10.  Problem solved.

 Cannot see Spoonley back in the squad this week

Im hoping we do something similar to what we did in Dunedin last year.

Play a strong counterattacking game and break fast.

A lot of the win against them was down to Ward's hard work winning the ball and then shifting it forward quickly. 

I dont really know what I would do for this game, but there's merit in bringing Lia back into midfield against another strong mid three, but that would require dropping 2 of Totori, Ifill, Brockie, Fenton & Stein..

I wouldn't worry about rugby putting a dent in any Nix crowd. I think some people don't appreciate the number of people that travel from out of town for our games. There wouldn't be many north of Kapiti that would come for the rugby

For me the most shocking aspect of the season so far is the appearance of lower case "i"s in the player names on their shirts.

It's bloody diabolical isn't it?

The very essence of evil.

EViL