Matthew Lewis, Nathan Sherlock and Brady Smith will fly the Central Coast flag in Asia from March after a combined 41 appearances to the Mariners' maiden NYL campaign.

Orange born and raised defender Sherlock, 19, has been a standout of the Mariners' NYL charge despite missing a significant slice of the season through injury.
 
Capped by his country at Qantas Joeys (Under 17s) level, Sherlock was added to the Mariners' Hyundai A-League roster mid-season as short-term injury cover but ultimately not called up to the match day squad.
 
Local product and livewire striker Smith was another on the cusp of making his Hyundai A-League debut, but has flourished in the NYL where he tops the Mariners' goal scoring charts with three strikes from 15 appearances to date.
 
Smith, who has captained the Mariners' NYL side in the occasional absence of Sherlock, has made a handful of appearances for the Mariners' senior side in friendly fixtures and netted his breakthrough senior goal in yellow and navy against NSW Super League outfit the Northern Tigers in July of last year.
 
With the inclusions of Lewis, Sherlock and Smith in addition to the previously announced signings Shane Huke, Adam Kwasnik and Nick Rizzo, the Mariners' AFC Champions League 2009 squad now numbers 26, four short of the maximum of 30 allowed by the AFC.
 
"We congratulate Matthew, Nathan and Brady for showcasing to the club their potential value to our AFC Champions League campaign and, from our perspective, we are delighted to welcome them on board for this historic time of our club's history," said Mariners Executive Chairman Lyall Gorman.
 
"The natural pathway for elite young players to progress from the NYL through to the Hyundai A-League and, in this instance, to the AFC Champions League, has been the overwhelming positive of the first ever NYL season and we know that Matthew, Nathan and Brady will be introduced to our senior set up with adequate experience at an elite level.
 
"With just four playing spots remaining for us to potentially pursue, we may well have made the final additions to our AFC Champions League 2009 squad and I can speak on behalf of the playing group and coaching staff when I say that we're very impressed with the talent that we've been able to assemble for this prestigious competition."