The loss of John Aloisi is obviously a big one, but it is the departure of experienced players like Tom Pondeljak and Adam Kwasnik which could really hurt the Mariners this season. Ahmad Elrich is a good pick-up and Lawrie McKinna will hope the former Socceroo gets back to his best form. Dylan McAllister, returning from Norway, will help fill the void left by Aloisi up front. Adrian Caceres could prove a very good acquisition if McKinna can get a consistent 90 minutes out of him week, in, week out.

Pre-Season:
The Mariners were very good in the Pre-Season Cup and just missed out on making the final after defeating Sydney and Queensland, but losing to eventual finalist Wellington. The highlight was clearly Mark Bosnich's performances in goals, but the club has yet to offer Australian football's prodigal son a spot on the roster. Nik Mrdja's return from injury was the other positive note for last year's Premiers.

Improvements:
You can expect the Mariners to look much the same as last year, with perhaps a bit more strength down the wings with Caceres and Elrich. The return of Mrdja will give them more speed up front as well, and will make them harder to contain.

Concerns:
The Mariners tend to leak too many goals and the retirement of Tony Vidmar leaves them short on experience down the back. McKinna's game plan leaves them vulnerable to counter attack and central defenders Nigel Boogard, Paul O'Grady and Alex Wilkinson will be tested by opposing teams. The absence of Danny Vukovic for the first two months of the season will only add to this.

Key player:
Mile Jedinak: There is no doubt Nik Mrdja's ability to hit the net will be massively important to the Mariners, but Jedinak's presence and the back end of the midfield will be even more important. One of the future stars of the game, the hard-as-nails defensive midfielder will be responsible for ensuring the defence is not put under too much pressure, as well as setting up the Mariners' attacks.

Up or down?
There's only one way to go for last year's Premiers and there must be a few doubts hanging over from last year's Grand Final loss. Lawrie McKinna is an excellent manager, but the standard of the competition will step up again this season and it's not clear that he has the cattle to make that jump. Always competitive, the Mariners will be fighting for a lower end finals spot at the end of the season.