Belinda Neal (Robertson, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak in the adjournment debate and to do something that really does give me a great deal of pleasure, and that is to congratulate the Central Coast Mariners on their success as minor premiers in the Hyundai A-League Australian football competition. This team is the only professional sports team on the Central Coast—something that we have had ambitions for for some time. This is the third season of the Hyundai A-League, and the Central Coast has had another great season.

In the previous two seasons, they achieved great things from a base of only 300,000 fans on the Central Coast, compared with the fan base of the capital cities and of Newcastle. They won the first pre-season cup in 2005-06 and narrowly lost the grand final in the A-league competition in its inaugural year, 2006, losing 1-0 to the Sydney silvertails, Sydney FC. Season 2 saw another productive start, with a second successive finals appearance in the pre-season cup, but it was to finish in disappointment, losing to Adelaide on penalties. In the second season they finished out of the finals. This year, at the end of the round robin competition, the Central Coast Mariners led the table and won the Hyundai A-League competition, making them the minor premiers and also entitling them to entry into the Asian Football League, something that we are very much looking forward to.

As a Central Coast resident and as a parliamentary representative of the Central Coast, I am extraordinarily proud of their achievements in such a short time. When the Hyundai A-League first started, it was a real gamble. The Mariners were based in a regional area, the Central Coast, and no-one was sure whether it would really work. The reason for the Central Coast Mariners’ success is their commitment to the area and their integration with the local community. The players live on the coast, train on the coast and have provided endless time to local football teams, helping kids and doing training sessions, and attending local schools to talk about important issues like road safety. The Mariners have certainly added a lot of colour to a broad range of community events, and we have also had the particular talents of their coach Lawrie McKinna—who I understand is almost learning English at the moment! The Mariners have a warm and humble approach to the whole issue. They are family orientated and they make us very proud and pleased that they are Central Coast ambassadors.

I want to take the opportunity now to mention the players, because they are not always mentioned by name. I will mention the whole squad, though of course not everyone will play on Sunday. Our goalies are Danny Vukovic, Matthew Trott and Andrew Redmayne. In the midfield we have Nigel Boogaard, Paul O’Grady, Tony Vidmar—unfortunately, now retiring—and our captain, Alex Wilkinson.

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