Culina speaks from ACL experience having guided Sydney FC to within a whisker of qualifying in a first-past-the-post group stage with Urawa Red Diamonds in 2007 – the eventual winners of the tournament.

The former Australian Coach of the Year (1997) reinvigorated Sydney's flagging fortunes taking over just three weeks before the start of the ACL.

The sky blues shocked Holger Osieck's Red Diamonds with a 2-2 draw at the SFS before a 0-0 draw in Saitama ended their campaign agonisingly close to qualification – a campaign that opened with a stunning 2-1 win away to Shanghai Shenhua.

And despite the unknown terrain of the 2007 ACL - which included a horror loss in a baking hot Indonesia on a terrible surface, the same venue where the Red Diamonds could only manage a 3-3 draw – the Aussies would've qualified had the top two rule been in place.

Culina, 52, says it won't be easy for the Mariners or the Jets but feels Central Coast are better placed to qualify from their group.

"Look at Adelaide, they made the finals because they played counter-attack football. And in this competition you need to do that," he told au.fourfourtwo.com.

"I fancy Central Coast along with Kawasaki Frontale. The only thing that worries me is if Aussie teams try to play too much football, they may be found wanting.

"I think Newcastle may need to change their game because I think Central Coast's style is probably better suited in this competition."

The Mariners have been drawn in Group H and will face Korean team Pohang Steelers, Japanese side Kawasaki Frontale and China's Tianjin Teda.

The Jets are drawn in Group E along with Korea's Ulsan Hyundai, Japanese outfit Nagoya Grampus and Chinese team Beijing Guoan.

As Culina notes, Australia has a good chance despite being at a disadvantage: "There's no doubt that Australian clubs are handicapped in this competition. All the other clubs start their seasons in March.

"And the travel for them is a lot less – their biggest journeys are to Australia."

The Jets are planning some games against Urawa Reds while the Mariners will take a short tour to China – but it doesn't make up for not playing in a domestic competition, week in, week out.

"Newcastle won't make the A-League finals, therefore they will have a longer break and will have more new players on their roster.

"That's going to be a huge hurdle to overcome," added the former Sydney United and Sydney Olympic NSL coach who has also held the position of NSW technical director of coaching.

"In South Korea perhaps the conditions will be an issue while Chinese teams play pretty football but they generally don't go to far in this competition.

"And you've got Nagoya Grampus who are coached by Dragon Stojkovic and they did really well in Japan. I think they are the favourites in that group but Newcastle have a genuine shot at second spot.

"The great thing is they [A-League teams] know what to expect.

"They don't have to go to a Thailand or an Indonesia or and worry about the real heat and atrocious pitches we had to encounter with in Indonesia. Particularly against the smaller teams you can under-estimate them, too.

"Can the Jets top their group? No, but I think they have a genuine chance of finishing second.

"Meanwhile, Central Coast will have at least two or three weeks longer of top level games and their roster is going to be pretty much similar as Lawrie [McKinna] pretty much has the squad that he'll take into Asia and not too many new names.

"And I also think the Coast can play on the counter quite well whereas Newcastle tend to want to play and take the game to the opposition.

"So I think Central Coast will be more suited to this type of competition and I genuinely fancy them. And Tianjin may not have the quality of Central Coast and Frontale while the Mariners will have plenty of information on Pohang following last year's ACL with Adelaide.

"We [at Sydney FC] learned pretty early that we had to mix it because if you remember we'd hit teams in the first 20 minutes and then sit back because we knew most of our opponents were match hardened and also in most cases technically better than us."

While there seems some optimism that A-League teams can finish in the top two of their respective groups, Culina admits the June knockout round of 16 will be very difficult – particularly if the Aussie teams must play this one-off round away from home (all second placed sides in the group are automatically away for this one-leg match).

And by the time June comes around, A-League preparations are in full swing across the country. It will put the Mariners and Jets in a tricky situation ahead of the new – and expanded – domestic season.

What's more, if the Socceroos have already qualified for the World Cup, a number of A-League players are likely to be called up in that same month.

Those in the ACL are likely to be more match fit than others across the country. This may complicate things even more.

"The repercussions of this, which we found at Sydney FC, are on the new A-League season, particularly with an ageing squad. What do you do with the players? Do you peak them for the ACL or do you peak them for the start of the league?

"If you have a hypocrite chairman who comes in and expects you to get results in the first week when you're peaking later on you could be without a coach and finished before you even start.

"It's going to be a huge challenge for Gary [Van Egmond] and Lawrie [McKinna] in how to prepare their teams. When do you peak them?

"How do you prepare them given that the A-League kicks off so soon after the end of the first stage of the ACL."