In 2022 it was Alou Kuol, Kye Rowles, Lewis Miller and Mark Birighitti.

This year it was Garang Kuol, Jason Cummings, Nectar Triantis and Sammy Silvera (so far).

The Mariners are doing good business by selling off their best talent. And while this would normally be anathema to any club hoping to fight for a title, the Mariners are calling it situation normal and expecting to repeat or even surpass their 2023 triumph next season.

The reason, of course, for this unusual blend of on-field and off-field success is coach Nick Montgomery who has created an academy which is the envy of Asia. He spent two years in charge of the Mariners Academy and his academy products are among the best in the world for minutes in the first team. With an ongoing production line, the Mariners can sell off their best, confident that there are more coming through who are already steeped in the Mariners’ style.

Even better – the Mariners academy has developed such a strong reputation for getting good, young players into the first team, that kids from all over the country are clamouring to join, meaning the Mariners get to pick and choose from the very best. Managed well, this can only mean ongoing success at Central Coast while other clubs continue to buy in talent from overseas.

Going into the 23/24 season, the Mariners squad will include a lot of young players and the likelihood is that more will come through. Josh Nisbet, Jacob Farrell, Max Balard, Harry Steele and Dan Hall are already established first teamers but there are a few in the squad very likely to have big careers. Of these, I’d expect fans will get to see Cam Windust, Miguel Di Pizio, Sasha Kuzevski (injured) and James Bayliss feature in the first team.

And some, again, will be sold.

Most fans hate seeing their best and brightest sold off but Mariners fans have come to perceive that the club has to sell to survive. They have also come to trust Monty and his system, knowing that anyone leaving will be replaced – probably from within – and all fans like to see a new home-grown player. Mariners fans get to see that a lot.

The mystery, for me, is why other clubs don’t focus on youth development as much as the Mariners do. I suspect there is insufficient reward under the current salary cap arrangements for developing youth but that is surely something the APL could be looking at – finding a way to reward player development by measured cap relaxations, and/or an internal transfer system which would encourage all clubs (including NPL clubs) to have a stronger focus on development.

Meanwhile, Monty’s Machine is spitting out quality players, winning matches, and selling the cream to sustain the club and its future.

To be fair, Adelaide United, also, have done fairly well in this regard when you look at the Toure brothers, Kasini Yengi and Nectory Irankunda, but they’ve not had the Mariners’ Socceroo / Olyroo conversion rate, and they’ve not had anything like their overseas sales figures.

The start of the new season will tell us a lot about how the Mariners are going – replacing so many first team stars (again) – but the fans have every faith that Monty will rebuild the team into a competitive unit both through internal promotion and his superb talent identification network. Brian Kaltak, Beni Nkololo, Tulio and Moresche were all left-field additions who have done very well in the A-League.

I’ll also be interested to see how Christian Theoharous and Dylan Wenzel-Halls go this season. Both have a fair bit of ability which has never quite blossomed at other clubs, but maybe the Monty magic touch can get a tune out of them.

Indeed, it is the loss of Monty (and Serge Raimundo) that the fans most fear. It’s not that long ago that the Mariners were the league’s kicking boys and watching those games was painful. Monty is clearly too good to stay in the A-League forever so the hope is that he will do something to set his system in stone before he challenges himself at a higher level.

For now, there’s still a long way to go before the new season kicks off but at least we have the Women’s World Cup to enjoy.

Go Matildas!

 

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.