JUST think of Rob Schneider in The Waterboy - it always brings a smile to my face.

I was not smiling last Friday night. It was anything but inspirational on any number of levels. A promising opening 20 minutes suggested that Mariners fans may get their money's worth despite the condition of the pitch. However, unfortunately yet again, the team flattered to deceive.

First gripe - ground conditions. Can someone please explain how it is that in Australia, in January, any ground with a full time maintenance staff, and state of the art watering system can be this poor? I swear Sasha Ognenoski's back has better coverage than Bluetongue at the moment.

All season we have heard excuses about ground conditions, from Andre Rieu to mystery grass viruses, the A-League has been short changed in this respect all around the country. In the height of winter it would seem it is far easier to maintain a pristine playing surface in Australia.

Second gripe - The Mariners look like they are merely going through the motions now. They appear to be determined to prove their perpetual knockers right. They fell over the line into the finals, and are simply not stepping up.

The game itself on Friday night was pretty ordinary, and neither team controlled possession, nor creatively constructed any significant chances.

For all of Roar's potential attacking flair, we saw none of it. There was a poorly defended corner, and a clumsy trip that resulted in two goals.

The Mariners were truly one dimensional, apart from a couple of occasions when Adrian Caceres ran at his defender. Now I don't claim to be coaching genius, but when you are playing the in form defence of the competition, and particularly the best defender in the air in the league, you would not rely on a direct and narrow attack.

Any novice at this game can see that if the Mariners do not change their strategy tonight, they will lose again.

The only bright note of the night was the effectiveness of Bojic's marking of Minniecon. He did an excellent job, and gave us our only rare moments of width.

As far as Paul O'Grady is concerned, well, I'll be kind and say he reads the game OK, but what you gain in pure size and strength, you lose in agility and speed. Big Serg is strong, but the danger is the quick feet of the players that run off him. If I were Lawrie, I would not start O'Grady, and the penalty was an example of the risk.

Now I can't leave commenting on the first leg without making an observation about Danny Tiatto. He has been playing this game a very long time, and at the highest level, but it completely astounds me that, knowing as he would the risks associated with two footed tackles, and/or studs up challenges, he continues to do it.

He is a serial offender, and whilst I admire his passion and commitment, I think it's quite sad that he gets himself into trouble through such poor decision making. As others have said, he is a better player than that, and does not need this dimension in his game.

With Tiatto's absence, along with Clog's, the Mariners face a weakened defensive unit, and this is the only positive, going into the away leg and facing a two goal deficit.

It is a mountain to climb. The Mariners' much-talked about ‘never say die' spirit needs to now come to the fore, and they need to engineer something different from the tripe they have served up over the last few weeks.

There is still hope, as a lot can happen in 90 minutes of this remarkable game.

Incidently, having been bored senseless by the Australia v Japan game, I just thought I might add that those who decry the Mariners for a lack of technical prowess, may want to consider the stark contrast in technical ability of the European based Australian team versus the mostly J-league based Japanese team. Anyone who thinks any A-league team has players currently at this level is kidding themselves.

Japanese close control and touch was superb, as was their athleticism and general fitness. Of course it all means nothing if you don't score. It does serve as a timely reminder of the size of task in relation to the ACL for the CCM and the Jets.

Well defended Australia. It was a good result, however there is clearly plenty of work needed between now and the World Cup.