Central Coast Mariners travel to bitter rivals Newcastle Jets for the opening game of the new A-League season, a match which could see two sets of brothers in action. The D'Apuzzo brothers, Adam and David, are also on different sides of the F3 divide.

As for Elrich senior, he is confident that the Mariners can get off to a positive start and points to his recent winning habit against Tarek.

The Mariners defeated Gary van Egmond's Jets 3-0 in Canberra during pre-season while Ahmad was part of the Wellington Phoenix team that won 3-2 at EnergyAustralia Stadium in round 18 last season.

Ahmad said: "I'll have the wood on him for a third time I think. I'm going out there to give 110 per cent and to come away with a result.

"It's bragging rights isn't it? It's always good to get one up on your local rivals.

"It should be a good game and I'm sure there'll be a lot of people there.

"I'll try and set up goals and if I can score that'll be a bonus. Just contributing to the team is my main focus.

"We've come off the back of two or three wins in a row now so confidence is quite good."

The Mariners go into the match with several players on the injured list with Nigel Boogaard facing a race against time to recover from a groin strain.

Dean Heffernan, Dylan MacAllister and John Hutchinson are all less than 100 per cent, Mile Jedinak is a huge doubt while Greg Owens is definitely out.