Here’s what we learned from a dramatic upset …

1. Perth Have Passed The Baton
On December 23, 2011, just two days prior to Christmas, Central Coast Mariners easily accounted for Perth Glory at nib Stadium 3-1. Josh Mitchell was dismissed in the 25th minute, Bernie Ibini-Isei opened the scoring just after half-time before Bojic and Amini added gloss for the away side. It was the worst present since a young fan was gifted their first Glory membership. At least at that point, anyway, as just days later we dubbed the Perth faithful as lumped with the most coal in the A-League era. Now, unthinkably, given their impeccable season, the Five Things column feels that mantle has been passed to Central Coast supporters. As runaway leaders for most of the season, three Grand Final losses should have been a distant memory by next Sunday evening. Instead, a straight sets exit has scuppered perhaps their best shot at Championship glory. Pride in this team and their club might restrict them from saying as much, but Mariners fans have suffered enough.

2. Sell Stars, Lose Chances
Few around Gosford will forget the impact Australia international midfielder Mile Jedinak made to the young club’s early success, nor his contribution to the fledgling A-League. Unfortunately for the two-time Premiers, the memory of Matt Simon and Rostyn Griffiths will be preserved with a taint similar to that suffered by Jedinak. Way back in late 2008, shortly before an A-League-based Socceroos side recorded a miserable scoreless draw away to Thailand in Asian Cup Qualifying, the Mariners’ talismanic powerhouse vacated their midfield for his European expedition. Jedinak’s departure coincided with three straight defeats for Central Coast to round out the regular season, falling away from the top three before they were bundled out of the finals race by Brisbane. Fast forward three years into the future and a similar fate has befallen the club with the sale of Simon and Griffiths proving their downfall late in the season, this time from an even higher peak. Let this be a lesson to their A-League peers: your squads do not have the depth to cover such losses and, as John Sutton proved, January is not the time for reinforcements. While the cash injection was reportedly necessary for the Mariners, their rivals must heed the warning.

3. Experience Isn’t So Bad After All
Be honest: a little bit of you was hoping Jacob Burns would miss Perth’s final penalty purely because it was Jacob Burns. It’s okay, no one is going to judge – after all, you’re probably in the majority. Still only a relative lightweight when compared to Kevin Muscat in the ‘disliked by neutrals’ division, the Glory skipper did everything to endear himself to his own fans on Saturday evening by slotting the decisive penalty with outstanding composure and skill. In that moment, this newfound ‘you can win everything with kids’ attitude which has infected the A-League was briefly subsided by the once-great ‘experience counts’ belief. Burns’s penalty won’t reverse the league’s ageing process nor will it halt the groans from opposition fans upon seeing his name on the teamsheet, but his winner was a moment of genuine leadership and liberation from a sustained period of derision.

4. To Press, Or Not T- … No, Just Press
Press early, Perth Glory. Just do it. Be bold, innovators, believers in the tactics of the Five Things column. You’ll be the first, obviously, but trust us when we say the Coach of the Season award could easily have been sent in this direction. Modesty aside, Ian Ferguson has a week to wrestle with the Grand Final’s most important question: should Perth Glory press high, or defend deep and aim to catch Brisbane’s undermanned defence on the counter? In our humblest of humble opinions, it must be the former. Roar’s ball retention abilities have been diminished this season and for that reason their defence has been exposed more regularly. As evidenced by the two side’s January 4 meeting – a 3-3 draw at nib Stadium – this defence can be shaky under pressure. Under the spotlight of a Grand Final, early pressing will test the resolve of a unit which copped goals from which they couldn’t recover during that mid-season slump. So press high and early, Fergie. Worry over. Trust us.

5. Risdon Needs A Big’Un
Voted man-of-the-match on debut by FourFourTwo last season, young Glory right-fullback Josh Risdon was instrumental in Perth’s qualification for the Grand Final in slipping through a clever pass for Billy Mehmet to square and Smeltz to equalise in the Qualifying Final. With that chalked off his to-do list, another interesting task now faces the 19-year-old next Sunday: marking Johnny Warren medallist Thomas Broich. While fan-favourite Scott Neville has fully recovered from his long injury layoff, Risdon’s form has seen the one-time Glory captain confined to the bench, a pecking order which is expected to remain intact against Brisbane. Ian Ferguson could be excused for experiencing unease in penning Risdon’s name on the final teamsheet simply because this will be the most important match-up in the contest. The tenacious Perth local will rightfully get the job, however, and will need no motivation for the biggest match in his brief career.