Let me begin by emphatically stating that I don't believe in curses. To my mind they are ideological relics from less enlightened times much like witch-hunts, bloodletting or the New Zealand Knights.

Further, I take great delight in provoking the superstitions of those that do believe in such medieval mumbo-jumbo. I deliberately walk on the cracks in footpaths; recite passages from Macbeth backwards; and arrange my furniture against every known principle in the feng shui handbook, amassing enough bad qi to be refused service at my local Breadtop bakery.

I am also all-too-aware the unsubstantiated nature of curses doesn't seem to stop some people believing in them and that football fans are certainly not exempt from this mindset.

For Australian football fans the most well-known hex must be the supposed ‘Socceroos curse' which permeated the public consciousness courtesy of Johnny Warren's autobiography Sheilas, Wogs and Poofters.

Supposedly, it was this curse that was solely responsible for breaking our collective hearts every four years as the national time repeatedly failed to qualify for the World Cup finals. Several unfavourable draws against superior South American opponents, a goal-net snipping hippy and a lack of cohesive preparation apparently having very little to do with it.

The ‘Socceroos curse' purportedly lasted some thirty-plus years before lispy, and some would suggest downright-bloody-irritating, media personality John Safran was cleansed in chicken's blood by a witch doctor who may or not may not have been taking the piss.

While it made for strangely entertaining television - which you can rewatch here - I would be more inclined to attribute the Socceroos subsequent qualification for Germany 2006 to Guus Hiddink's managerial nous rather than the antics of a man whose prior claim to fame was trawling through Ray Martin's wheelie bin.

Football is a passionate game though, and where there is passion there is often a complete absence of reason and common sense. With this in mind it seems another alleged curse has begun the shaky transformation from circumstantial curio to full-blown urban myth.

I speak of the ‘A-League champions curse' - where the previous season's grand final winner falls flat on their face in the attempt to defend its title.

According to the adherents, it all began with Melbourne Victory in season three, continued with Newcastle Jets in season four, took a well-earned holiday the next season, then returned with a vengeance to break the hearts of Sydney FC fans last campaign.

Apparently the curse also explains the poor performances of all but one A-League club in the Asian Champions League; however, the believers will readily point out that Adelaide United were not Champions, but rather Premiers, the year before and as such were exempt from its spooky fallout.

Of course, the 'champion's curse' is utter hogwash, malarkey, balderdash, poppycock, and few other words that quite likely aren't fit to print.

Let me be clear, these so-called accursed clubs fell victim to their success but certainly not because of it. It's a classic case of specious reasoning.

Due to the nature of the A-League - with its salary-cap system and still burgeoning reputation - successful clubs are always going to lose players after they reach domestic ascendency. After all, the best players are nearly always ambitious and eagerly seek new challenges after one has been conquered - be that chancing their hand in a foreign league, returning to their home town club or seeing how inflated their salary could become at a rival club desperate for some success of its own.

The players that move on may not necessarily be out-and-out superstars but they are still vital cogs in a championship winning squad. And no matter how astutely a club may recruit to compensate for its losses, it still takes time to rebuild a cohesive unit if enough players depart.

The best example is Melbourne Victory. After their absurd 6-0 grand final victory in 2007 the Big V said farewell to nine players before the following campaign even commenced (among those that departed were Kristian Sarkies, Adrian Leijer, Simon Storey and Fred). And although the club appeared to have recruited well to cover for these losses - welcoming well-reputed players like Carlos Hernandez, Ljubo Milicevic, Kaz Patafta, Nick Ward and Leandro Love - it wouldn't be until 2009 the club would hold the toilet-seat aloft again.

The other clubs cited earlier similarly suffered substantial losses of playing personnel after they held the gold-plated toilet seat aloft - Newcastle farewelled nine of their squad and Sydney FC ten before last season's almighty bellyflop.

The teams that did not fall victim to the curse noticeably loss less players than those that supposedly did feel its wrath. Three players departed Sydney FC before the competition's second season and before the sixth season Melbourne Victory farewelled five. Both teams achieved consecutive finals appearances.

Which brings me to this season's defending champions - Brisbane Roar.

So far the orange clad lads from the sunshine state have lost only four players from their grand final winning team - Milan Susak, Jean Carlos Solorzano, Kosta Barbarouses and Matt McKay (whose transfer is still pending at time of print).

While these players all made vital contributions to the Roar's record breaking season it is hardly the type of wholesale losses that have been afflicted upon previous championship squads.

Still, the always proactive Ange Postecoglou has recruited promisingly in readiness for the new campaign - signing two foreign internationals in Sayed Mohamed Adnan of Bahrain and Besart Berisha of Albania in addition to picking some choice local names from rival A-League clubs in Kofi Danning, Matt Jurman and Jack Hingert.

Meanwhile, the guts of the best team the A-League has ever seen still remains under contract and, if preseason form is any judge, these players are incredibly eager to be the first A-League club to successfully defend their title.

I don't care how ardent a follower you are of the ‘champion's curse', you would have to be a complete idiot to think Brisbane Roar won't make the finals series this season and won't give it a fair shake once they get there.

Of course, along the way the club's remarkable unbeaten streak will inevitably come to an end and they will probably drop a few easy points at some stage of the campaign, perhaps ruining your well-considered weekly tips in the process.

But even so, this will not be evidence of a curse. Rather, it will be a reflection of the reality of competing in the A-League - a closely-fought competition made level by salary caps, squad restrictions and ill-considered buy-out clauses.

Of course, if Brisbane Roar do happen to find themselves out of finals contention by January and get thoroughly embarrassed by their assumed continental inferiors in the Asian Champions League next year, your humble blogger will have some desperate backpedalling to do.

In which case, I guess I will be the one getting smeared in chicken blood, reciting incantations while hopping on one leg and doing whatever else possible to seek absolution from Roar fans for jinxing their campaign by writing a blog that so flippantly dismissed the possibility of a curse.

But until that happens, I feel confident in saying there is no such thing as a ‘champions curse' and that Brisbane Roar, so long as they don't sell any more players, are going to emphatically prove me correct over the upcoming season.

Although, I hope you won't hold it against me if I keep my fingers crossed. You know, just to be on the safe side.