By the Palm Trees – Central Coast Mariners vs Newcastle Jets
For Football it’s our time again. The other codes are finally fading into the distance and our game is again coming to the fore. With every new Hyundai A-League season there is a sense that our game (the best game) is getting bigger and better every year. At the same time the (so called) ‘off season’ feels like it’s getting shorter all the time. With the start of the FFA cup, the increased exposure of preseason fixtures (via club internet streaming) and, this year’s World cup, it feels like we don’t have to wait out the long off season as we once did. How wonderful is that for football fans?
On the home front, only last night I read our Central Coast Mariners broke 5000 members for just the second time and additionally, we’re ahead of our membership numbers at the same point last year. Sure, our club will have one of the smallest membership totals in the A-League but not by percentage of population. Clearly off-season fears of moving from our Gosford home have done little to quash the Mariners interest level among Coasties. Last year’s record membership was understandable after we finally captured our first A-League title, but I personally was a little concerned we would struggle to back that up this year. I predicted we might struggle to break 4000. If you can hear a crunching sound in the background right now, that’s the sound of me happily eating a large bowl of ‘Humble Pie’.
The excitement of the new season is palpable around the Central Coast and that is in part because our first encounter of the season is the oldest and best derby in the A-League, the #F3Derby. Marcos Flores’ switch between the combatants has done nothing to reduce the anticipation and Jet’s fans wishes for redemption, after their team’s poor showings in derbies last year, is adding to the banter beautifully.
Much to the delight of Mariners fans, the Jets performances throughout their pre-season campaign have not created much excitement. Recently held to a draw by a team of Mariners youth, trialist’s and fresh signings (with a sprinkling of A-League team members), they showed little in the Mudgee #F3Derby preview a few weeks ago to raise my concerns. From the outside, the Jets seem to be pinning most of their hopes on key signing, Flores, to steer their fortunes in the right direction and there is no doubt Marcos has something to prove after working hard to come back from a season ending injury. Much of the media quote from Marcos is a little bizarre to me. While he was an amazing person to have around our club, he happily acknowledges the big chance his new club have taken to sign him but allows the media to portray him as a little ‘peeved’ that the same chance wasn’t taken by our club. I love Marcos, but for me that chance was too big for our club given our philosophy has always been about team not individuals. I can’t recall too many complaints from Marcos about Melbourne Victory or Ange Postecoglou when Mariners helped revive his flagging career on their bench at the beginning of last season…I’ll just leave it at that. In my personal experience Marcos is a great player, person and a brilliant club man, so I wish him all the best wherever he plays.
For the Mariners, the preseason has been generally positive, and while a recent loss to NPL team Sydney Olympic was no fun, our other performances have alluded to another solid year in the making. New European signings Malick Mane and Richard Vernes may not be the type of signings we associate with some of the other clubs in the league but they come here with something to prove and there have been some glimpses of real quality among their preseason showings. In addition, mid-season signings Kim Seung-Yong, Eddie Bosnar, Glen Trifiro and Matt Sim all look in super shape after spending a preseason on the coast. This is the year for another set of Mariner’s youngsters to step up to the plate. Which one of Mitchell Duke, Nick Fitzgerald, Anthony Caceres, Mickey Neill or Zac Anderson would you say couldn’t be the next to take a similar path to a long list that includes the likes of Rogic, Ryan, Sainsbury and Bozanic (to name but a few). Central Coast will feel rightly confident of their chances on Saturday evening after putting the arch-enemy to the sword on most occasions in recent years. The biggest problem I can see is for Phil Moss who has the unenviable task of deciding on a starting line-up. With few injuries to worry about and most of the players competing for positions it won’t be an easy task. For me, the hardest decision will be about whether to throw Mane straight into the mix, give Mitchell Duke the opportunity to stake his claim first or send both out for maximum attack. Either way, the Jets defenders are in for a tough day at the office.
I won’t be there tomorrow night, for the second time in 10 years family business must take priority. But I’ll be there in spirit and nothing can quell my excitement at our season commencing. I will be sneaking off in between parts of the wedding I’m attending to be sure I don’t miss watching the game live, so see you on social media.
To all A-League fans out there – no matter who is successful or unsuccessful in this Hyundai A-League #Season10, I hope you enjoy the highs, the lows, the excitement and the atmosphere of what promises to be the best season yet for everyone.
My prediction – Mariner’s by at least 1 probably 2
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