In 2021, for the first time since their championship triumph in 2013, the Central Coast Mariners finally made it to the top six and the finals of the A-League Men.
It was a welcome and exciting time to be a Coastie, after years of the team floundering at the bottom of the table and watching coach after coach attempt (and fail) to bring the Mariners back to their former glory.
They were out of contention for the championship soon after they were welcomed back into the finals fold, losing 2-0 to Macarthur in front of a home crowd, and bowing out of the season.
This year, the Mariners have once again secured their spot in the final six. Following a haphazard start to the season, the side are still on an impressive unbeaten run with just one match remaining for the regular season.
However, they’ve finished in the bottom of the top six, currently sitting in fifth but potentially moving down to sixth once all games have been played.
The season prior they finished third but were out of the finals after one match.
So what makes this season different?
This season they have a championship-winning team.
The inclusion of Scotsman/Englishman/Australian Jason Cummings has been a blessing to the side. Nine goals in 19 matches may seem less than other strikers in the league, but the energy and talent he brings has elevated the squad.
(Photo by Ashley Feder/Getty Images)
Then there’s Nick Montgomery, the championship-winning player turned rookie coach who has so far led the Mariners to the FFA Cup final in just his first year in the job.
There were concerns for the team when former Matildas coach Alen Stajcic left at the end of last season, but Montgomery has gone above and beyond expectations of what the team could achieve.
Young talent has also been at the forefront for the Central Coast.
The Mariners’ academy is arguably one of the best talent sources in Australia. Alou Kuol was incredibly impressive during his time with the yellow and navy, and his brother Garang has taken the league by storm at only 17 years old.
Joshua Nisbet, although small, is an incredible talent for the team, and finally cemented himself as such after bagging his first A-League Men goal earlier in the season.
The return of Storm Roux after time away with Melbourne Victory has also been underrated.
The right back has shown consistent form this season – and most recently assisted the young Kuol in his fourth goal of the season against Brisbane.
However, the Mariners have had a shocker this year when it’s come to late conceded goals.
They conceded a 2-1 lead over Sydney FC in January to lose 3-2, and late goals also lost them the match against Melbourne City in February.
In the back end of the season, they have got considerably better, notably against Western Sydney when they came from 2-0 down with a red card to level the scores and snatch a point away from the Wanderers.
If they are to be fighting for the championship this season, they have to continue their strong run of form, and eliminate their poor defence towards the 90-minute mark, when they often have conceded the win.
But many football fans would not be shocked to see the little community club fighting for the win on grand final day.
josh
Guest
I still don't want him at WSW, his age is a factor not to mention lack of game time. It's got dud signing written all over it and WSW need to aim stratospherically higher. One more missed trophies season and the club is finished.
Garry
Roar Rookie
especially if they get to play AU at home :happy: :silly: The bad news for Phoenix & CCM is that Im picking them next games.. CCM v AU, WU v Phoenix. I think WU playing at a level that Phoenix can pinch the result. ps anyone got the ALL STARS voting form to work? all I see is a blank page
Garry
Roar Rookie
atm CCm at home to AU :stoked:
Katrina May
Roar Rookie
Oh absolutely, Birighitti has saved them the match countless times. I think with a full strength squad, the mariners should easily make the semi-finals
Roberto Bettega
Roar Rookie
They have had a great season, and most importantly for the neutral, they have been very entertaining. They have a good front three, and they have close to the best left back in the league. But: - they will have to win two away finals just to make the grand final, and I'd suggest you'd get long odds on that happening - the quality in the middle of the park is probably a bit off the quality that say, a team like Melb City possesses, although with injuries being a great leveller, who knows. On the positive, their keeper is better than that of a couple of the top teams!
TheSecretScout
Roar Guru
try again pal. the only social media i have is linkedin, which has got my work mobile number on it. happy for you to give me a call, everyone else seems to lol
Hudddo
Roar Rookie
Sure mate, a one team state holding approx. 2 mil people is an underdog team just like a team from a region with 330k people with no money…
Hudddo
Roar Rookie
Where ever your getting your Mariners info from, better find a better source. From someone I know inside, the Boz situation has occurred because Boz not only refused to play the way instructed by Monty (eg pulling him in extra time vs Adelaide) , i was informed, he actually tried to start discourse in the team, that was drawn to the attention of Monty. The professional disagreement was no bust up, why would boz is still training with the team if its a bust up??? I'm gunna throw it out there on a ledge and say you have been reading Boz's Brothers lackies propaganda on Facebook. They have tried now for months to claim that Boz has been hard done by ( but truth is the the break up, although messy, is mutual). Also this offer from the Wanderers only came after the disagreement.
Hudddo
Roar Rookie
I'm pissed at the moment, so I apologise if my argument is incoherent. I won't rebut your point on the lose we're going to suffer because the alternative would be pretty funny. Just will say a few points of clarification. -Monty sorted out the late issues ,eg it hasn't happened for like 15 games -mariners are second in goals this year. Their Accuracy is best in the league at about 38%. -Mr Johnny Warren (Goodwin) is currently on 7 goals, 6 assists in 23 games. Cummings is currently on 9 and 6 in 19 games... -Adelaide have played in the last 4, no-one in the top 6, let alone top 3. Say what you will, you see it as a win, you've already lost.
Tigertown
Guest
I feel for Bozanic. Last season, he was the heart & soul of the Mariners. A very decent, down-to-earth guy, who was leadership material. Now, the hardest pill to swallow, is the Mariner’s have been winning without him. How would that make the excluded player feel? Anyway, Monty appears to be a confident manager. Clearly someone who has been in the Mariner’s system for years. Good luck to him.
NoMates
Roar Rookie
I stand by my commence about SFC, the league needed fresh air and that's what we got underfortunitly COVID hit and a lot of people are not/have not seen the best A-League seasons ever. Just look at how close the title chase is this season with 3 teams need to win and others to lose to get over the line - madness.
Garry
Roar Rookie
Your comments understandable given your AU bias :happy: BUT AU is also a heavyweight Im afraid. Consistent top 4 perfomer. Only outsiders are CCM & Phoenix (who I agree are way outsiders) with WU imho incapable of winning enough games to win GF.
TheSecretScout
Roar Guru
no issues from me lol everyone likes an underdog story, but you need to remember mariners arent the only under dog in the finals mix - there's also wellington and adelaide against 2 heavyweights of the competition and a third side that can easily outspend the 3 under dogs. id be happy for any of the non melbourne sides to win it (preference adelaide) lol
TheSecretScout
Roar Guru
boz had a good contract offer from another side in january, he was under the impression that he would be allowed to leave to play for this team - the mariners blocked the move. the player was rightly upset (as you would be in the twilight of your career, at receiving a decent financial offer) at not being allowed this moment and there was a heated training ground bust up between monty and him. relationship between player and coach hasnt been the since - boz will not play for the side again this season and wont front the cameras/podcasts or any form of media for interviews boz has been absolutely professional through out this ordeal, still training with the team (and training very well) a different player would've downed tools, but it shows you what sort of culture the mariners have - that he is still willing to bust his behind at training and be a good mentor to the younger players
TheSecretScout
Roar Guru
switching off in the last several minutes happens, the fact its happened on multiple occasions to the team is a pattern of behaviour monty needs to address the run to the toilet seat unfortunately will end at hindmarsh, its never been a happy hunting ground for the mariners regardless of how inform the current mariner side is (tied as the best with adelaide for consecutive wins in the last several games) they'll be coming up against a side that is ranked second in the league for shots taken, has the likely winner of the johnny warren medal and a surprisingly tight defence of late (2 goals conceded in 5 matchs) if that isnt already a scary enough proporsition, yengi is back after missing 3/4 of the season (doesnt looked like hes missed a beat in training either) should be a comfortable win on paper, but as we all know - on paper means nothing.
Tekkers
Roar Rookie
You wanna expand on the Boz situation by all reports he’s still training well. I don’t think Monty is in the wrong for leaving them out considering how good Ballard and nisbet have been.
Hudddo
Roar Rookie
Why not gloat, the team is a skeleton of most clubs. If a club with 4 to 10 times the funding can't do the job of weakest starting club, reminders have to be made. Any way, 8 years down who's against a little bit of self pride.
Hudddo
Roar Rookie
The losses they had were coming out of COVID, when fitness wasn't at its best, in Febuary e.g most the games were lost or drawn in the last 5 minutes of the game. MC - was the Robbery of the season. MV- Last touch of the game. WU- was a pen in injury time away from Victory. AU- Final touch of the games. Of the 4, only MC has beaten us at home, and that was our first game back from COVID.
Hudddo
Roar Rookie
What did he say about the Mariners?
Tigertown
Guest
I’ll be frank... By all means the Mariner’s can go all the way. A championship will rejuvenate the club, provided the local council actually support football. However, I am not looking forward to any gloating from their fans, especially on the Mariner’s online forums, where wistful goo-feasting is a sport. In their heyday, Central Coast would absolutely rip into Newcastle supporters. I understand rivalry, but some old Facebook posts (still available online) were tragic. The trophy is theirs, but please win gracefully, Mariners.