Merrett is no stranger to the venue having developed there as a teenager with the Southport Sharks before being drafted to the Lions in 2002.
But there is no doubting where the former Gold Coast product’s allegiances will lie when he lines up for the first time against the AFL’s newest team and the Lions’ southern Queensland neighbours.
“We’re the established Queensland team and they’re the new kids on the block,” Merrett said.
“The rivalry starts now, but it’s all positive for Queensland football. Hopefully it can continue to build up until Round 7 when we play them during the regular season at the Gabba.”
“For both teams it’s the last game before Round 1, so I expect both sides will be close to full strength.”
Merrett said that his team were unlikely to pay any extra attention to former team-mates Michael Rischitelli and Jared Brennan who are both set to line-up against their old side.
“I don’t think we’ll target any of our ex-players,” Merrett said.
“Rischa’s a quality player and we’re not going to go out there just to antagnoise him.”
The Lions will enter Sunday’s final practice match for the pre-season with a great deal of confidence after securing a breakthrough 29-point win over Melbourne last Saturday.
“We needed it,” he said.
“We’d had a couple of pretty bad losses in the first couple of weeks, so it was important for the boys to finally get a win on the board.”
“It’s exciting to have our first hitout against the Suns, but we’ll be treating it more as a dress rehearsal for Round 1.”
