Smallest club; smallest catchment; lowest budget and (in most years) smallest roster and lowest wage bill.

But… one premiership; two championships; five Grand Final appearances; most Socceroos developed from first professional contract.

There have been plenty of lean years. Only a few seasons ago some high profile commentators were calling for the Mariners to be axed from the league on performance grounds. Three wooden spoons in four seasons was a bad look.

The Mariners have always been the quintessential community club and it’s the link between the community, the club and the players that the best coaches have understood and milked for all it’s worth. Lawrie McKinna, Graham Arnold, Alen Stajcic, Nick Montgomery and now Mark Jackson have all gone out of their way to nourish that link and prevent the players from vanishing inside some remote Ivory Tower.

This has certainly kept alive the club’s strong spirit and core support. Add a bit of good management and decent results and the whole thing compounds into an unrelenting success machine – or at least it has done since Alen Stajcic took over.

The new era probably started with Shaun Mielekamp getting the back office right and putting the club on a more sustainable financial footing. The lean years continued but the club started to find its feet. The appointment of Alen Stajcic (definitely one of Australia’s best coaches) started to see results on the pitch, and Staj putting Nick Montgomery in charge of the academy was the master stroke that has paid continuing dividends ever since.

The Mariners’ academy developed such a strong reputation for improving young players and funnelling them into the first team that players started applying from all over the country. All of a sudden the Mariners had the best run academy in Australia and were also able to pick and choose from the best candidates. Success breeds success.

Some who have recently been through the academy include: Jacob Farrell, Josh Nisbet, Max Balard, Harry Steele, Alou and Garang Kuol, Nectar Triantis…

Monty’s assistant at the academy was Serge Raimundo, ex Manchester Utd, with a sophisticated network of scouts all over the world. When Monty and Serge took charge of the first team they had already prepared a number of youngsters for first team football and used Serge’s international network to identify bargains capable of playing the system they wanted.

The idea was that the academy and scouting network would continue to produce quality players to generate on-field success – sell the better players on for a profit and then replace them from the same sources.

That model at the end of the 22/23 season saw the Mariners crowned as Champions after a magnificent performance in the Grand Final, with transfer fees banked for Triantis, Kuol, Tulio, Cummings et al.

o far so good, those players were in the process of being replaced (on paper at least) but then the greatest challenge of all struck when Monty himself (with Serge) was headhunted by Hibs in Edinburgh – just before the new season.

A new coach had to be found quickly but it had to be the right coach. Someone who could manage the first team, oversee the work of the academy and, most importantly, understand that link between the community and the club.

It didn’t start well with four straight losses.

Mark Jackson had an okay record, including some success in the Leeds United academy, but nothing to truly excite the fans.

They’re excited now. Sure, he had a strong platform in place, built by Staj, Monty and Serge, but you could reasonably argue he’s taken the project further than Monty. The Mariners are playing breathtaking football right now with four special players in the thick of it.

The first of these is Brian Kaltak – captain of the Vanuatu NT and a rock at the back for the CCM.

Second is Jacob Farrell – surely the best left back in the league right now and unlikely to be in navy and yellow next season. He’ll be fighting out Socceroos LB with Jordy Bos over the next ten years. Great going forward also.

Third is Angel Torres. Looked very much a work in progress when he started the year but is suddenly the most lethal attacking player in the league. It will be very difficult for the CCM to keep him but at least his value goes up every week.

The jewel in the Mariners’ crown, though, is Josh Nisbet. The shortest man ever to play A League, his performances at #6, #8 or #10 have been outstanding for the last two years. So outstanding that the clamour is growing for him to be included in the next Socceroos selection. The fact that he can play anywhere in the midfield surely aids his cause.

One thing that was obviously lacking at the Asian Cup was our ability to retain possession. Josh Nisbet never loses the ball… never. His low centre of gravity and quick footspeed enable him shield the ball securely. His awareness of all his team mates is first class and his passing is deft and crisp. There is no better ball runner in broken play in the A League. We could do far worse than try him out in the upcoming WC group matches.

Meanwhile, the Mariners continue to breed and bring success against the more fancied and much more richly resourced clubs and the fans are loving every minute. Even if they know they can’t get too attached to their favourite players.

In the end it’s the club that matters.

 

Adrian's books can be purchased at any good bookstore or through ebook alchemy. His first sci-fi novel (Asparagus Grass) was published by Hague Publishing in July 2023. The ebook can be purchased here and the paperback can be ordered here or at your local store.