The Lions have done their homework, and are ready to do battle with former captain Dayne Beams on Thursday night.
Beams left Brisbane and returned to Collingwood ahead of the 2019 season, the club he debuted and won a flag with.
After Beams’ departure, Lachie Neale arrived - and how - to architect Brisbane’s rise up the ladder after a month of footy in 2019.
Animosity seems a media construct for Beams, who on Tuesday took it upon himself to get the obvious answer out of the way.
“Obviously you guys are gonna ask me about coming up against Brisbane,” he said on Tuesday, catching reporters happily offside.
"So, it's something that I've done before, obviously playing for Brisbane and having to play against Collingwood.
"I've done it before coming up against an old side, it's just another game."
NO WORRIES: Beams knew the question was coming, so he got the answer away without it
Brisbane coach Chris Fagan also dismissed the expected narrative, saying Beams will be treated like any other player, just like Port Adelaide recruit Tom Rockliff was.
"We had Rocky [Rockliff] up here a couple of weeks ago and he was one of 22," Fagan told reporters on Wednesday morning.
"Dayne is one of 22 tomorrow night. They've got a lot of great players, including him. We won't spend any more time on him than anyone else.
"We'll just treat him as a normal player from the opposition, we'll shake hands before and we'll shake hands at the end.
"What happens in between, we've got no control over that, have we?”
Neale, who leads the league with 155 disposals through the opening four rounds, conceded Collingwood's midfield is the best in the league - and acknowledged that Beams was part of Brisbane’s homework.
"We'll do our research on their midfield as a collective and Dayne's part of that," Neale said on Tuesday.
"He's a quality player and was very good for this footy club for a few years."
It has been a whirlwind 12 months for Beams, and in that time, he skippered the club before handing the reins to incumbent captain Dayne Zorko.
In four seasons with Brisbane, Beams never defeated the Pies - but Fagan understands Collingwood’s star-studded midfield goes beyond a player that just happens to be Brisbane’s former skipper.
The pressure will be on in front of an expected sell-out at the Gabba, the first such instance for a Lions fixture in nine years.
While season 2019 is barely off the ground, there is little room for complacency - heading to last week’s match against Essendon, the Lions went in 3-0, and came out the other side bearing the bruises of a 47-point defeat.
"You've got to be on your game every week. Every now and then it's good to get a reminder,” Fagan said.
"It was probably just a little slip in our attitude and application… we got what we deserved [against Essendon].
"We've been used to having a loud crowd here all year. We got good practice last week playing at the MCG where there were 50,000 people.
"We'll learn from last week, look forward to the occasion and try and play well to get our crowd involved in the game."
