HAVE you ever dreamed of being a brilliant football player? Well, I have but maybe that’s only because I lack the basic co-ordination required to even kick a ball in a straight line.

Two guys who can do that (and much more) are Central Coast Mariners Nathan Sherlock and Brady Smith. After their NYL fixture against Sydney FC on Saturday, I had a talk with the boys about football and where they see themselves in the future...

Nathan is an Arsenal supporter and Brady is a Liverpool fan. Ironically, the EPL teams both support lost by the same margin they did this week.

The game ended 2-1 in favour of Sydney but it was a momentous night for Brady, who became the first ever Mariners youth player to score in the NYL.

“We’ve had a couple of goals scored but not by an actual youth player so yeah, it’s pretty good [to be the first]” he said.

Both agreed the Mariners were unlucky to come away without a share of the points. When asked about the game, Nathan said, “I thought the match was pretty quick today. It was a very tough game.

"I thought we competed quite well but were unlucky to come away without a point.”

Brady agreed saying: "We knew that Sydney were going to be a quality opposition because they’ve been undefeated. We would’ve been happy with a draw. The team did well.”

It’s been a long ride and both have nearly reached the top.

“When I turned 14 I moved out of home to take up a NSWIS scholarship” says Nathan, who was born in Orange. “From here I represented numerous teams like NSW Country, Australian Joeys and I had a season with Milan Blagojevic at Sydney Olympic, which was a very successful year for myself.

"I was fortunate enough to get a look from Alex Tobin and Damien Brown and be one of the first signings for the Central Coast Mariners [youth].”

Brady’s a local boy: “I live in Wyoming and I played for Central Coast Coasties. Then I moved onto Parramatta and Blacktown for a few years and came back to the [Central Coast] Lightning and then got involved with this.”

But what of the luxurious footballer lifestyle? Well, when asked what they do outside of football, Nathan replied, “Oh, I study! I’ve almost finished my HSC so until then I’m just studying away.”

Brady said: “I haven’t really got the time. I try to do a bit of surfing but that’s about it.”

What, no shampoo advertisements? Okay. Maybe that’s a good thing.

Having said that, the NYL is brilliant without the player sponsorships (Mile Jedinak sponsored by a fruit shop, Sasho Petrovski by a real estate agent and Matt Simon by a coffee shop – huh?) and product endorsements.

“From what I’ve played in and seen it’s been really good, high class [football]” says Brady.

Nathan says the best thing is that “...it gives us a step into professional football, especially with the older guys who come back [and play] for us each week. They give us a load of experience.”

The exciting rivalries in the A-League are not absent here either.

Nathan says: "We have a lot of Sydney guys in our team, we know the Sydney team, we’ve played with them or against them now for a few years. So yeah, there’s kind of a rivalry between us and maybe even Newcastle as well.”

When asked who they thought would win the NYL, Nathan thought it was too early to call.

He said: “it’d be awesome to be us but I think it’s a bit too hard to tell right now. There’s a couple of teams up there who are in the running but it’s whether they can keep their form or not.”

Brady said: “Considering today, Sydney are such a quality side I don’t see why they can’t [win]”.

As for future plans, both had the same aspirations. In three or four years, Nathan said he wanted “to be with the Mariners first team but hopefully, I’ll have a professional contract in the next 3 or 4 years”.

Brady agreed, saying: “Hopefully, as soon as possible, I can get a first team contract but until then, who knows…”

One thing’s for sure. These guys are the stars of the future. And they’re here to stay.