It begins with a Grand Final rematch in Brisbane on the 8th of October the A-League wisely deciding on a later start to avoid clashing with the finals of the NRL & AFL.

Best of all is that 12 of the 13 home games take place on a Saturday afternoon which should help fans come through the gate.

Obviously the NYE fixture is still intact and only one Midweek fixture, Wednesday during the school holidays, which could well work out.

The Mariners will play the Melbourne Heart in a regional match, which looks set to be somewhere in Victoria (Melbourne Heart were reportedly talking to Geelong a while back).

The first F3 derby is nice and early away to the Jets in Round 3 on the 23rd of October and the Mariners will have two home derbies against the Jets in Rounds 10 & 15.

The first against Sydney FC is Round 7 in Sydney on the 19th of November, Sydney will only make one trip to Bluetongue this year, in Round 22, March 3rd.

Of course the draw can’t be great for everyone and while it’s great for the Mariners, it completely destroys Sydney FC, whose poor start last year cost them, they face a tough start again this year, although I think it’s hard for us to have any real sympathy for Sydney FC.

Was Pedj Bojic fouled? It looked like it, but Breeze said no and we’ll never know what might have been.

We can take nothing away from Brisbane they’re deserved champions after such a great season, but to be so close it hurts.

Kwasnik did wonderfully through the match, Matt Ryan was a star and deserved the Joe Marsden medal, and Bernie was a master stroke of a sub.

Graham Arnold has made this team what it is, yes a lot of us were skeptical, but Arnie has proven us wrong, taking a team that the media said would come 9th or 10th and taking them to within one kick of winning the A-Leage Grand Final.

So does it still hurt? Of course. But it will get better, let’s not look back on three minutes of madness, but let’s look back on an amazing season, we’re going to Asia and that’s all that matters.

Today is the beginning of the 2011-12 season, it’s our year, we’ll claim the domestic double.

I’m Chris Hockman and I’ve been a Mariners fan since way back in 2004, that’s right before they even existed.

I supported the Mariners bid with the FFA for admission to the A-League all those years ago and was a founding member of the Marinators.

Since the FIFA Club World Championship Qualifiers I worked with the Central Coast Mariners on match day, mainly as a stretcher bearer, but also in the media area, helping photographers and journalists with various things.

I wrote for Pintculture.com as the Mariners corrospondent and also ran a weekly statistics column for them.

In 2010 I ended my time at the Mariners as I married the love of my life, which involved moving to San Antonio, TX, USA her home. It was a tough decision, and leaving Bluetongue Stadium after the Newcastle Jets match was tough but something I do not regret.

Since leaving I have kept up my support for the Mariners, thanks to Fox Soccer (I know, it should be football) I’ve been able to catch most games and have been writing as the Australian Football Examiner for Examiner.com. We will also be hosting an A-League Grand Final party tomorrow night here in San Antonio.

This page will allow me to be completely biased in my love for the Mariners and focus on Mariners news, a great passion of mine.

COME ON YOU YELLOW!

“I’ll return to training as soon as possible and with the help of the club and my team-mates I’m determined to do all that I can to push my case for a starting berth against the Wellington Phoenix,” said Bosnich in a recent interview.

Although initial diagnosis speculated that Bosnich’s hamstring was ruptured, scans have shown that he’s only suffered a strain and will be probable for selection against the Phoenix. Thank goodness — we need all we can get against the mighty force of New Zealand.

Sarcasm aside, Sebastian Hasset’s article in the SMH last week rings particularly true at a time like this. The table is closer than ever and we have an incredibly important match against 3rd place Adelaide coming up. A win and we’re in, or at least close to, a top-two position; a loss and we can say goodbye to not only our rank, but our confidence too — such to the extent that we might well get Shebangabanged just like Sydney.

In other news, Alex Tobin has been appointed the new Assistant Coach for the Mariners after the departure of Ian Ferguson. It will be interesting how he adapts to his new role and in all likelihood we’ll see a continuation of the club’s reputation as having the best training/youth program in Australia.

Tonight’s Mariners vs. Glory fixture wasn’t touted as a curtain-raiser, but it certainly raised worries for Lawrie McKinna despite a 4-1 win.

It all started with a tragic injury to superstar goalkeeper Mark Bosnich. I think everyone in Bluetongue stadium grimaced with collective sympathy as Bosnich collapsed after taking a goal kick – rupturing his left hamstring.

To make things worse, preliminary sources claim that Bosnich’s A-league career is over. What’s more, his entire career in football may be over with not only injury, but age and a lack of contract stacking up against him. At least now we might be seeing him on television sooner rather than later.

Redmayne served as his replacement, but had to come on encumbered with fatigue after playing in the A-league’s first Youth League match. Credit to the lad, though. He looked calm and collected between the sticks, especially having to follow an act like the great Bosnich.

But it wasn’t all peaches and sunshine for the debut youngster. In the 70th minute Redmayne suddenly collapsed on the ground after making a simple save and, just like Bosnich, clutched his leg in pain. Out came the physio, out came the Gaffa, out came the coke in my mouth; you can’t make up this stuff.

Thank goodness he was ok. I’m not sure the Mariners could’ve held up without a proper keeper after seeing Perth’s late surge. Nonetheless, I’m sure I wasn’t the only one with a perverse desire to see Boogaard between the posts…

In any case, if someone has been breaking mirrors, seeing black cats or somehow misusing the number 13 down at Mariners HQ, please let us know. We’d love an explanation for some of this craziness.