Lump in throat time

Then in the telei today

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<!-- END Story er Block -->http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,23099138-5006068,00.html

By Nick Walshaw

January 24, 2008 12:00am

<!-- Lead Content Panel -->JOHN Singleton had all the Mariners gathered around him in a horse paddock recently when he made the offer.

"Tell yah what I'll f...en do," the larrikin advertiser started.

"You fellas choose a racehorse, take the pick of my two-year-olds and it's yours.

"Name the thing, take a 50 per cent stake and I'll make sure the training and everything is worked out. Should be sorted by the end of the season."

Has rugby league finally lost its stranglehold on the communities north of the Hawkesbury River Bridge?

It's a question certainly worth asking today as The Daily Telegraph reveals the most lucrative gesture by any sports fan this summer.

Singo, you see, has no official role with the Mariners except as a sponsor through his Bluetongue Stadium.

Once among the staunchest rugby league lovers on the planet, this millionaire businessman is now just another punter caught up in the A-League phenomenon sweeping through the Central Coast and Newcastle.

It's a craze suddenly making gold the predominant colour on Hunter Street.

The Mariners are so popular that defender Andrew Clark has his own TV gig.

There's 19,000 at games, junior numbers are booming and the creation of superstars such as Jets winger Tarek Elrich - who recently raced, and beat, a greyhound.

"But this whole thing about the Central Coast being a league town, I've never accepted that," Mariners chairman Lyle Gorman explains.

"This community is fanatical about sport, about identity and for years they've had this dormant passion waiting to burst out.

"But until now league has been their only option."

But not any more.

No, now as the Newcastle Knights lurch from one crisis to the next - and the Northern Eagles push up daisies in an NRL cemetery - both the Mariners and Jets increase home crowd averages by 3000 a year.

Gorman makes no secret of the fact his club is surging into the hole left by league.

Of an Eagles outfit that was undoubtedly the worst experiment to hit Gosford streets since dress shoes with velcro straps.

"They left a stain after operating remotely, failing to integrate," Gorman concedes. "And we've learned from that."

It's why Central Coast management knocked back vague naming suggestions such as the Pacific Mariners.

Why coach Lawrie McKinna can be seen walking his dog along Wyong Road every morning.

The Eagles cut local heroes such as David Fairleigh and Matt Orford while the Mariners field seven locals in their top squad.

"Because," says skipper Alex Wilkinson, "it's our job to fit in."

And so every Tuesday night the entire Mariners squad hosts a session with one of its 22 local clubs.

A commitment that has existed since inception.

"When there were six people at a school fete," publicity officer Ben Coonan recalls, "and one of them was always a Mariner."

It's a process, both clubs agree, of creating heroes from scratch.

And why, when FFA surveyed grassroots development, Central Coast and Newcastle finished one-two.

"People say the two regional centres are disadvantaged - we're not," Jets boss John Tsatsimas explains. "Because we have the chance to engage every single member of our community."

It's an intimate relationship. One that saw McKinna incredibly open his home recently for a barbecue with fans.

"But league is too cool for all that," one senior official shrugs.

"Which is sad when you see where humility has taken the Mariners."

Business Central Coast boss Kerry Ruffels agrees when asked about the community passed over for the 16th NRL franchise.

"League has only ever paid this community lip service," Ruffels says. "Like Manly recently threatening to relocate here if they didn't get more government funding . . . like it was the worst thing in the world."

Supporters, of course, see this. See Tsatsimas "signing as many locals as possible" while the Knights cut like Edward Scissorhands.

See a Mariners outfit behaving like a commodity Ruffels rates as worth "$10 million annually" to the local economy. As a result, the Jets now average 13,209 per game, just 2500 behind the Knights.

Central Coast, meanwhile, boasts a record sponsorship of $3.1 million and has 13,000 registered soccer players - more than twice that of league, union and AFL combined.

Gosford council is this week rezoning schoolyards because they're out of fields while crazy fans such as Wyong limo driver Michael Kopinja recount escapades in gorilla suits.

Kopinja, 21, won a radio competition after spending two weeks living, sleeping and pranking with a lifesize cut-out of Mariner Matt Simon.

"It was around formal time, too, so the kids had him out the limo window all the time . . . he finished up a bit battered and bruised."

Rugby league now knows the feeling. But have they missed out entirely?

"Well, we've spent three years embracing this community," Gorman smiles. "And now they're turning around to embracing us.

"So, yeah, I think you can say that. I think every sporting body has missed the boat."

Probably they missed their stake in a future Golden Slipper winner, too.

Seems to me that the Nix and the CCM team seem very similar. the Nix have huge support from the city, they get out and about in the town, they have all embraced Wellington as home, particularly Daniel - who just loves the crowd. I think in 3 years time the Nix will have gone through the same growth as CCM.

It is undeniable that football is  growing in it's mainstream appeal in new zealand, The nix have brought a whole new set of supporters to the game, and the global appeal of european based leagues (which most kiwi's can trace some ancestry to) helps keep the enthusiasm up all year round. Im dreading the start of the super 14,  as the atmosphere at the backbencher just isnt the same as with a room full of nix supporters.

near that and becasue they have to compete with Union and AFL.

But it's not. It's on during cricket season, which is also a national sport, and I bet it kicks the sh*t out of that when it comes to crowds.

The air new zeaalnd cup is on when league is to and it's nothing compared to the world cup and test matches. Soccer may become bigger than league in say 7-10 years but thats only becasue parents would rather see there child play nice say soccer then league.