Last year's wooden spooners quickly bounced back after the Mariners took the lead through Asdrubal on five minutes.

Striker Roy O'Donovan came back to haunt his former club with a first half hat-trick before Joe Champness and Dimi Petratos completed the rout to give Jets their biggest F3 Derby win.

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O'Donovan on hat-trick: That's Mariners' loss

Merrick said post-match: "To win 5-1 opening match of the season away from home after going down a goal was an outstanding performance and a sign of the character of the team I think.

"We’re not going to get carried away with it. It’s a good start, a good performance for probably two-thirds of the match – not the whole match. We probably played decent football for 55 minutes, 60 minutes."

Merrick left Wellington Phoenix for Newcastle to chase silverware - something he got a taste of during his multi-title winning days with Melbourne Victory, and he couldn't have wished for a better start.

As for his hat-trick scoring striker, the coach suggested getting under the Irishman's skin pre-match may be counterproductive for rivals.

"Roy is a veteran of intense football where there’s pressure on and he loves it," Merrick said.

"There’s been a few jibes at him this week and he responds to that. I mean that just gave him so much motivation."