Trent Sainsbury ... 'Wilko showed me the way to graft and really step up and be a leader on the pitch.' Source: Quentin Jones / AAP
From a naive rookie to a standout centreback rubbing shoulders with Alessandro Del Piero, Emile Heskey and the cream of Asia's attackers.
That's the journey Mariners defender Trent Sainsbury has taken this season, one he is adamant has prepared him to face Melbourne Victory superstars Archie Thompson and Marco Rojas on Sunday for an A-League grand final spot.
Sainsbury said livewire winger Rojas had overtaken Socceroos veteran Thompson as Victory's main threat for the sudden-death semi in Gosford.
"Thompson's getting on a bit now, he's had his career and it's been a very good one," Sainsbury said.
"Rojas, his career's just starting, he's a great young talent. He's going to be at the big clubs (overseas) very soon I think."
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Sainsbury, 21, has stepped into the breach left in central defence by departed Mariners captain Alex Wilkinson.
Marquee men Del Piero and Heskey have taught him a few lessons in the A-League.
Asian Champions League aces like Brazilian Leandro Dominguez (Kashiwa Reysol) and Bosnian international pair Zlatan Muslimovic and Zvjezdan Misimovic (Guizhou Renhe) have extracted further guile in the past two months.
"It's not so much sharpened my game but I think it's made me a lot wiser," Sainsbury said.
"I was a bit naive coming into the A-League thinking I could go ahead of the likes of Heskey and Del Piero and win every ball. Sometimes you've just got to let them take the first touch and pass it, try to force them backwards.
"The likes of Misimovic and Muslimovic, Dominguez, they were high-quality players and the reason the games swung in their teams' favour."
He said the fact Rojas and Thompson were a known quantity helped. Central Coast had two draws and a 6-2 romp over Victory this season.
"The ACL is a different story with the travel and, unlike the European Champions League, where there's these big-time players, in the ACL you've never heard of them but they're still top-quality players," he said.
"(With Victory), we get to have a bit of video on them and work out our game."
Sainsbury wants to play in Europe. Wilkinson and veteran Dutch defensive partner Patrick Zwaanswijk have aided his rapid development.
"Wilko showed me the way to graft and really step up and be a leader on the pitch," he said.
"Zwaany's all class, he's played at a lot of top clubs. The calm he has on the ball can control the game."
Central Coast's defence has conceded just 22 goals this season to Victory's 45.
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