With a good atmosphere at the club and a team full of academy graduates, there has never been a better time to be in and around the Central Coast Mariners.
And after seeing their A-League side qualify for the finals, the League One Men’s side looks to be following in their footsteps as they sit in second position after nine rounds.
One player crucial to their success in 2022 is Lachlan Bayliss who has scored seven goals in nine appearances so far this season.
We caught up with him to chat their start to the season, having a brother at the club and more.
With brother James in the A-League squad, Lachie has no lack of inspiration to make the next step in his football career.
“I’ve loved being able to play with James as he’s a strong technical player and we have good chemistry when playing together. We’ve been playing and training together since we were about 8 so he’s always been a mentor and competitor since the young age.
“One recent competition between us is scoring more goals than he did last season for the youth team. He scored 4 goals and he thought I wouldn’t beat that, so he has had to swallow his pride a bit as I’ve already surpassed his total.”
With a club culture of promoting young players, the Mariners have a positive culture across the board as Lachie tells us.
“There’s a really positive culture around the club at the moment especially with the great work Monty and Serg have done since taking over the head coaching roles.
“With them coaching the youth team over the past 2/3 years, it created a solid foundation for all of our development, and it’s shown through so many of the academy boys doing well.”
This year however, the Mariners are now led by coach Andrew Christiansen who has put his own spin on the side.
“It’s been great to get the opportunity to play under Christo, he’s a great coach and is very detail oriented. Christo, along with Ritchie and Lucas create an enjoyable atmosphere around the team which makes training everyday enjoyable.
“Personally, Christo’s really boosted my confidence as a player, looking for me to be one of the leaders in the team and I hope to continue to pay his trust with good performances and more goals.”
Looking ahead towards the rest of the season, we asked Lachie what to expect.
“I’m happy with how the boys have started the season, we continue to look to build on our start to the season and push for top spot. We always critique and reflect on our previous performances and focus our attention onto next week. And with A-League boys dropping back after their season there will be lots of competition for places and it is pushing all of us to keep our spots.
“Personally, I feel like my technical ability and creativity are my key strengths as a player and I’m always looking to build on my strengths, especially with creating and scoring goals. My teammates do a great job to move the ball into dangerous areas and I’m always looking to finish my chances.”
But we’ll end the interview in a light hearted matter as we started by asking him what his favorite goal of the season was.
“I would have to say my goal away at Hakoah would be my favourite, I got moved out to the wing which is a new position for me in the latter stages of the game and I got played a ball in behind ran onto it, cut inside on my left and just hit it.”
A reminder you can see that goal as well as Lachie and his teammates fixture against SD Raiders on NPL.TV or even better, at Pluim Park.
By FNSW League One Men’s Reporter Justin Smith
