A few seconds before the final whistle in the Mariners' joyous 3-0 win over Newcastle, Lawrie McKinna left his seat to shake hands with his entire bench. It had been a wonderful turnaround for the team after their disappointing run of losses and we smiled to see Lawrie and the boys share a happy moment at last.
Was he bidding a silent farewell to his players, to the fans, to Bluetongue? We'll never know. All we know is that we'll never see him sitting on those wobbly plastic chairs again.
Never hear his unintelligible accent booming across the pitch ("Hutch ! Hutch! Boogs! Pedj !) nor see the baffled faces of players as they nod agreement. Never see him pitchside waving his arms in anger at some defensive or referee error or jumping for joy as rain drenches the stadium. No more skim flat whites at half-time, nor cheery waves to little kids in the front of Bay 7. No more animated discussions with Tobin or comic sideline gestures to his subs.
Lawrie is gone and suddenly the heart has been ripped out of the Central Coast Mariners.
Sure, he'll still be an integral part of the club and play an important role but the truth is, without him as our gaffer things will never be the same again. It is the end of an era and our future is still uncertain. It will be a very long time before we can settle that uncertainty and heal the sheer pain of losing such an inspirational leader.
Although many fans suspected this might happen, personally, I secretly hoped he would give us a final season. It was my dearest wish to see Lawrie win a Grand Final and I always believed he could do it. Part of my problem is that I have followed both the teams he coached (CCM and Unmentionables FC) and much of my life as a football fan has been lived out alongside his players, his decisions, his victories and losses. (Maybe I need to start a support group for Wilko, Hutch, Porter and myself. )
And though I keep telling myself there will be "Life After Lawrie", the truth is I really don't know how I'll cope without him at the helm. His loyalty, friendliness and sense of humour gave Mariners fans security and a sense of belonging. We may not always have agreed with him, but we believed in him absolutely. His ability to inspire his players made our own faith unshakeable.
Sure, in the history of Australian football there have been many great coaches, but how many have created a high-achieving football club out of thin air ?
After suffering personally and professionally following the collapse of the old NSL, Lawrie McKinna dedicated himself to setting up a viable football club on the Central Coast where none had previously existed. He did this at great personal risk because he truly believed Coasties would embrace the round ball game if the club forged strong and active links with its own community.
His efforts were spectacularly successful, creating a new market for football through sheer dedication and passion for the game. So much of what the club stands for (family-orientated, friendly, unpretentious) is down to him. And yet he has also dazzled us with his ability to build a team, to choose quality players from out-of-nowhere, like Simon and Jedinak.
It's a rare combination and it's hard not to feel that, even with Lawrie's guidance, Arnie will struggle to fill his boots. Even if Arnie proves to be a much better coach than most people give him credit for, no-one will ever outshine Lawrie's achievements as a man of the people. Let's face it, it's hard to imagine Arnie asking fans over for a barbeque to meet the new striker or waxing his chest live on radio to raise money for charity.
What I will miss most about Lawrie is his amusing post-match comments ("Everyone's got a television", he quipped, when asked about the infamous Grand Final handball) and his unfailing dignity in the face of a relentless barrage of unjustified criticism about his coaching style, much of it from biased commentators who deeply resented his "small-town" success.
In the end, perhaps Lawrie just got fed up with the pressures of A-League coaching, fed up with being criticised even when his boys beat more "fashionable" teams hands-down, fed up with not being given due credit for his achievements, which will endure long after the ignorant babblers have been forgotten.
At the F3 Derby, we got to farewell Clarkey, Boogs and Redmayne, but we never had a chance to thank the man who has given his heart and soul to the team and to the fans. Then again, what words of thanks could ever be adequate for the man who has been our Herbert Chapman, our Bill Shankly.
Lawrie - win or lose, you have always made me proud to be a Mariners' fan. May your new job bring you the peace and happiness you so richly deserve.
