- Brisbane Roar finished above Central Coast Mariners in the 2025-26 A-League Women regular season.
- Central Coast won 3-2 when the sides met on 31 Dec 2025, but drew 2-2 in Brisbane on 30 Jan 2026.
- Brisbane's attack came alive at the end of last season.
Roar’s tempo to take the game to the Mariners
Johnathan Clemente's first competitive game in charge of Brisbane Roar FC (W) should see the Roar play at their familiar fast-paced and forward-orientated tempo, while the visitors will be set up to be more pragmatic and defensive.
Roar finished fourth in the 2025-26 A-League Women's regular season with 31 points, three more than seventh-place Mariners, so Brisbane should enter this opener as favourites. However, the odds of 1.88 seem a little short given that Central Coast won this fixture at Suncorp Oval 3-2 at the back end of December, while a draw would have been a fair result on 30 January.
The Mariners aren't likely to be any less solid this season after Kory Babington set them up to sit deep and be solid when they needed to be, while being able to hurt sides in transition and on set pieces. Roar are a 4-2-3-1 team that try to turn sides over high up the pitch and get in behind wide runners with fast, direct play, so the clash of styles should be interesting and could lead to a competitive opener.
Central Coast have an airtight defensive setup
Roar ran over Perth 5-2 and Newcastle Jets 4-2 before beating Adelaide United 3-0 in the Elimination Final, but they couldn't get past their opponents in the semi-final and ended up losing the semi-final 0-2 after extra time. The semi-final showed that Clemente's side still have some defensive frailties and, with the likes of Isabela Hoyos, Katrina Guillou and Hali Long fresh and raring to go in full squad training, the Roar have the attacking upside to get past the visitors. Central Coast finished 2025-26 in mixed form, going 2-1 up against Wellington before losing 1-3 to Melbourne City, while the following two games ended in 0-0 draws against Canberra and Sydney. Annalise Rasmussen, who finished as the club's leading goalscorer last season, is the finisher while Izzy Gomez is the creative force and Sarah Langman is the anchor. The odds reflect the closeness of these two teams in the latter part of last campaign, but we think Brisbane's extra quality and home edge make them the more likely winner and a 2-1 Roar success our preferred correct score play. The draw at 3.6 is definitely worth consideration, although we're going with Brisbane as we feel Clemente will want to stamp his authority on the squad right from the off and this should ensure they play on the front foot. Over 2.5 goals at 1.65 looks a good fit for this clash of playing styles while both teams to score at 1.55 should also appeal to those looking for more value.
