The grand final victory for the Central Coast Mariners signals the end of a journey, but it is certainly not the end of an era. New challenges await.
The journey began on 5 March 2006, when the Central Coast Mariners lost to Sydney FC in the inaugural grand final of the A-League competition.
I cannot even begin to imagine the pain those Mariners players would have felt; the empty feeling that fills out the stomach after watching a match slip away in front of your eyes, as was the case in the grand final against Brisbane Roar in 2011.
After letting that two goal lead slip away in the final minutes of extra-time, Graham Arnold admitted he drew upon the agony of previous finals losses to motivate his players.
It seemed almost inevitable the Mariners would win the grand final against the Wanderers.
Surely they couldn’t lose a fourth final? Deservedly, on the day, they prevailed.
A sense of completion accompanied the 2-0 victory. Arnold had thrown caution to the wind and focused on the grand final, despite the attraction of the Asian Champions League. He played the youth team against Guizhou Renhe.
Mariners captain John Hutchinson told journalists, “there are some good characters here, some fantastic players and good youngsters and before the game I told them it could be the last time we play together as a team.”
Inadvertently, Hutchinson brought up some of the fresh challenges that face the beach-side club. The game will be the last in a yellow jersey for many players.
The off-season is likely to see an exodus of players, particularly the shining young talents of Matt Ryan, Bernie Ibini and Trent Sainsbury.
It will only be a matter of time before the likes of Mitchell Duke and Michael McGlinchey are lured overseas by the offer of big bucks, prestige and a higher standard of competition.
This has been the story of the A-League since its inception. Sydney FC saw the core of their squad wash away like sand at a beach after their grand final victory in 2010.
The relentless erosion by the tide of overseas football proved too much for players like Karol Kisel and Alex Brosque.
Meanwhile, the club let players like Simon Colosimo and Clint Bolton escape from its grasp.
It is the nature of the A-League that teams change vastly in the off-season. Small squads mean coaches have to make difficult decisions of who to keep and who to sign. There is no room for players who aren’t pulling their weight.
The salary cap means coaches are immediately limited in the calibre and quantity of players they can employ. The financial plight of many clubs have similar consequences.
Post-match, Arnold conceded the Mariners are likely to lose several of their young players. A rebuild must be undertaken.
This shouldn’t be the case for a team that has just won a championship, but it is.
Arnie’s contract runs out at the end of the season. Whether he stays on the Central Coast or goes overseas, as the media likes to think, remains to be seen.
Either way, this may have been his last chance to win a grand final.
We may be nearing the end of the Arnold era but it is certainly not the end of the journey for the club.
Nor does the future look dire. Central Coast is a community club with a small budget. The players and staff have overcome financial adversity. At times, it looked like the club wouldn’t be able to pay their wages.
Luckily, shareholder Mike Charlesworth steadied the leaking ship. The experience, according to Patrick Zwaanswijk, brought the players closer together.
They are a tight-knit bunch. The Mariners have never relied on superstars to hold up the rest of the team. They play for each other.
I won’t be surprised if they win another championship next year, with or without a few key players.
Are you the ultimate team manager? Pick your own superstar team and go head to head with other football fans for glory and cash prizes on Draftstars. Imagine what you could be buying instead. Set a deposit limit.
Here is the way the Roar expert panel sees all the action unfolding across the final weekend of play prior to the semi-finals.
Central Coast Mariners' star striker Angel Torres has been stood down from playing in the A-League Men after he was charged with sexual assault. …
Mathew Leckie played a pivotal part in Melbourne City claiming an 8-nil win; playing a role in several of his team's goals.
The Mariners must deal with possibly their toughest challenge yet - Kyrgyzstan’s FK Abdysh-Ata Kant in the first leg of the semifinal.
The loser of the Sydney Derby will be under immense pressure entering the final three matches of the season.
A good performance from Michael Ruhs, scoring twice to beat Macarthur and doubling his season goal tally in the process.
