SEATED in a suburban Brisbane pub with the commentary drowned out by a spectacularly untalented karaoke crowd, I witnessed Thursday night’s stunning upset by Central Coast Mariners with a few friends.

Merely a couple of hours before the final whistle it seemed unfathomable that such an outcome was possible, and yet there was the result writ large on a plasma television screen before us.

It was this much learned council of men that after several pints came to the glaringly obvious conclusion that this A-League season will undoubtedly be the most unpredictable yet. Sydney, Gold Coast, Perth, Wellington and Newcastle were all proffered as clubs that have the potential to be both princes and paupers in this year's title race.

But what about Brisbane Roar, I thought. While stability is essential to our title bid surely we can have our dash of the erratic as well. A quick perusal of the squad didn't seem to help. It seemed incredibly unlikely that Bob Malcolm could embrace chaos theory like Dr Ian Malcolm from Jurassic Park. And while Craig Moore may enjoy a flutter, he certainly never takes a gamble when he is running the backline.

Then it dawned upon me that Brisbane has already incarnated unpredictability and put his name on the back of a jersey. I talk of course about the enigmatic Reinaldo Elias de Costa.

Reinaldo has become the forgotten man at Brisbane Roar this campaign - at least forgotten by the majority of sports writers in this country as I scoured a myriad of A-League season previews over the past week. In fact, only the September issue of FourFourTwo magazine made any mention of his potential contribution to Brisbane's campaign.

So to jog your memories, here are a few facts I garnered from my intensive research of asking five mates at the pub (one of which was a Sydney fan whose opinion has been disregarded for obvious reasons). Reinaldo is much loved up here in Bris-Vegas. His work ethic and athleticism are exceptional and are truly appreciated by the fans, as are his back-flip goal celebrations.

Unfortunately the fans also admit that those celebrations are rare because Reinaldo is about as likely to hit the target as an inebriated flatmate taking a sneaky, midnight wee. This is hardly new information because I'm sure you have all witnessed at least one of his ballooned headers or skew-whiff strikes since he joined Roar midway through the club's first season.

However, in this much vaunted season of unpredictability is it possible that the mercurial Reinaldo could perhaps through some sort of strange, redundant double-negative actually become a predictable and dependable goal scorer for Brisbane Roar?

There is no doubting that when Reinaldo gets things right the outcome can be downright spectacular. His silky run and delicate finish against Sydney in the second leg of a minor semi-final a few years back was among the very best A-League goals of all time. And his howitzer finish against Melbourne in season two still remains a personal favourite of mine.

Clearly on the surface it would appear that the ingredients for Brisbane's fifth campaign are tailored made for Reinaldo to add to his record as the club's all time leading goal scorer. Once fully fit following an extended injury lay-off, the Brazilian could form part of what has the potential to be on of the A-League's more potent attacks.

The ball from the midfield will be provided by the same ruthless Roar midfield as last season with the addition of Reinaldo's former America Mineiro team-mate Henrique. And up the front it would seem logical that Reinaldo will be partnered with Sergio van Dijk, who will draw defenders and grant Reinaldo more room than was presented when he toiled as a sole striker in previous seasons.

However, like all things that are unpredictable, there are influential factors if Reinaldo is to realise his renaissance as an A-League striker. Much is dependent upon any lingering, long-term effects of his injury upon his pace and confidence. Frank Farina's willingness to attempt a 4-4-2 formation after abandoning the system twice in the two seasons previous is also highly dubious.

For both of these reasons, I wouldn't expect to see Reinaldo start an A-League fixture until October at best. However, and this is going out on a limb, I still believe that he has a real opportunity of being Brisbane's top goal scorer for the season if he can just manage to lose his unpredictability in front of goal.

It may seem far-fetched but if the Mariners can get a win in Melbourne, then I suppose anything is possible, isn't it?