I’ve written before about the Central Coast Mariners being the great generator of Socceroos over the last 20 years; specifically, players whose first A-League club was the Mariners.
In that time we’ve seen Mat Ryan, Danny Vukovic, James Holland, Dean Heffernan, Michael Beauchamp, Alex Wilkinson, Trent Sainsbury, Bernie Ibini, Tom Rogic, Ollie Bozanic, Matt Simon, Mile Jedinak, Musti Amini, Kye Rowles and Josh Nisbet (I’ve probably missed a couple) don the green and gold.
Others played for the Mariners before getting their call-up, such as Sammy Silvera, Lewis Miller and Nik Mrdja.
The success has happened across three distinct phases of Mariners’ history. The first came from Lawrie McKinna’s eye for a decent footballer and ability to inspire.
Josh Nisbet playing for the Mariners. (Photo by Daniel Pockett/Getty Images)
The second was born of Graham Arnold’s similar ability to identify and bring on quality talent.
The third phase was more scientific. When Alen Stajcic was head coach, he appointed Nick Montgomery and Sergio Raimundo to head the Mariners academy. They were so quickly successful, bringing young players into the first team, that all the best players across the country started applying to go there.
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After years in the A-League wilderness, the Mariners’ success over the last three seasons has largely been built on developing good young players, selling them overseas, thus opening up spots in the first team for more academy products – and the Socceroos are seeing the benefits.
Clearly, there is something in the water at Gosford because no other A-League club comes close to this prodigious output. And it might be about to happen again.
With Popa ready to select his first Socceroos squad, I would expect there will be three new names featuring in discussions: Max Balard, Jacob Farrell and Nectarios Triantis.
Max Balard had two outstanding seasons playing alongside Josh Nisbet to form one of the most effective midfield pairings in recent A-League memory. The silverware tells its own story but Balard’s last season was good enough to earn him a transfer to NAC Breda in the Eredivisie, where he has played every minute of the season so far.
NAC fans have been highly complimentary about his non-stop, box-to-box work and his incredible ball-winning stats. Before last night’s match, he was ranked third best across all Euro leagues for successful tackles and ball intercepts. His passing range coming from deep has been first class also.
When you consider the fairly underwhelming passing and tackling stats we’ve seen from those playing No.6 or No.8 in the last few years for the Socceroos, Balard’s form and numbers cannot be ignored. He also has experience in tough Asian conditions as part of the Mariners’ much-travelled AFC Cup squad.
Max Balard celebrating a goal for the Mariners. (Photo by Scott Gardiner/Getty Images)
Jacob Farrell took a while to convince me. He was an appalling ball watcher and would often lose concentration in his first season at the Mariners. He was very young though so the coaches persisted with him, and over the last two seasons, we’ve seen the emergence of an aggressive defender who dominates the fastest and trickiest of wingers (just ask Nestory Irankunda how he liked playing against Farrell). He also gets forward himself with exactly the sort of motor required for an overlapping wingback.
Farrell is now at Portsmouth and after only one Championship match, has the fans frothing about his performance against one of the better sides (Sheffield United). True, it is only one match, but his form over the last two years for the Mariners has to be relevant. He also has the tough Asian experience to lean on.
Possibly the darkest of these three horses is Nectarios Triantis. He had a massive breakout year for the Mariners in the 2022/23 season which won him a transfer to Sunderland. Unfortunately, Sunderland’s two best players just happened to be centre-backs so chances were limited.
He had a loan spell with Hibernian in the SPFL and did reasonably well at CB, until switched to centre defensive midfield. From that point, he’s not looked back. He’s returned to Hibs for another loan and has clearly gone up a level. His aerial prowess and power in the tackle are helping to drag Hibs out of their dismal funk. The fans are saying Hibs are starting to look like a football team again and Triantis is a big part of that.
Triantis screening the defence would be a very daunting sight for any Asian side and his versatility gives him added value. With Circati (devastatingly) injured the door opens for someone.
So the products coming out of the famed Mariners academy continue to roll off the assembly line and the likelihood of seeing Balard, Triantis and Farrell reunited with Josh Nisbet (and others) in the green and gold is high.
It may not happen immediately, but it will happen soon.
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