Mitchell Duke has no time for sentiment as Wanderers face Mariners

Sentiment goes out the window for Mitchell Duke as the Wanderers travel to face Central Coast Mariners.

Western Sydney Wanderers recruit Mitchell Duke started his career with Central Coast Mariners. Picture: Richard Dobson

Mitchell Duke will never forget the club that gave him a start as a professional footballer, but sentiment will go out the window tomorrow night when he returns to Gosford for the first time in four years.

Instead of wearing the yellow and navy of Central Coast Mariners, the powerful attacker will line up for Western Sydney Wanderers at Central Coast Stadium in a game that has no great meaning as both clubs are out of finals contention, but will have a pointy edge given the rivalry between them.

Back in Australia after a successful stint in the J-League with Shimizu S-Pulse, Duke will be looking to inflict more pain on a Mariners side that has been consigned to a second straight wooden spoon.

“It will be surreal playing at the stadium for the team on the opposite side,” Duke said yesterday. “I started my professional career there and have so many great memories.

“I’ve still got a lot of friends and family here and it will always be special to me.

“We won a championship and a premiership while I was here and I got my first taste of playing in the Asian Champions League, which ultimately helped me when I made my move to Japan.

“But I grew up in western Sydney and I am a Wanderers man now.”

Duke made his debut for the Mariners under Graham Arnold in February 2011, scoring in a 3-1 win against Gold Coast United, and went on to make 66 A-League appearances and scoring 13 goals.

He left the club at the end of the 2014-15 season, joining Shimizu S-Pulse and becoming a fan favourite, playing 89 times and scoring three goals.

Duke was lured back to Australia this year, signing with the Wanderers in February and making his debut as a substitute in a 5-1 loss to Newcastle Jets. It took him some time to adapt to the A-League again, but he has now become a regular in the starting XI.

He had a 20-minute cameo against the Mariners in his second game back when the Wanderers won comfortably, but he admits his old club is a much different proposition now.

“With a new coach in charge, they are better organised and more disciplined,” he said. “They will be a much harder challenge but we want to finish the season with a bang and a few goals.”

As much as Mariners fans are hurting, there is nothing for the Wanderers faithful to gloat too much about as their team will not be playing finals football for the second straight season — a situation hard to take for a such a high-profile club expected to be consistent challengers for the title.

It’s a long way from the days when the Mariners and Wanderers were so highly regarded. The two sides finished first (Wanderers) and second (Mariners) in the 2012-13 season before meeting in the grand final won 2-0 by the Mariners.

Mariners coach Alen Stajcic, who took over from the sacked Mike Mulvey in March, will be hoping to continue the steady improvement. While they have won just once in the four games since he took over, Central Coast have looked a much better outfit.