Speaking at yesterday’s FFA Coaching Conference, van Egmond said about the Jets' grand final opponent last February: “We knew they’d play a 4-4-2. And if they were chasing the game they’d go to a 3-4-3.

“That we knew. And it helped me in my planning and preparation of this game,” he said.

Mariners officials said McKinna refused to comment on van Egmond’s assessment, other than to sa: “Gary is entitled to his comments and opinion.”

Van Egmond added that he’d tactically altered his side for the grand final to combat the expected 4-4-2 system, a structure that destroyed the Jets just weeks earlier in the major semi second leg at Bluetongue.

Despite the diplomatic silence from the Mariners camp, McKinna would not be happy with this blunt evaluation of the side’s tactical approach.

However McKinna will have a chance to prove his 4-4-2 works when the Mariners open the new A-League season away to van Egmond’s Jets on Friday night, August 15.

It promises to be one of the most intense F3 derbies in the sides’ three year history.