'I'm flying the flag for Canberra': the Canberran trying to help create historic trophy treble

The Mariners head of athletic development is looking for back-to-back championships in the grand final against the Melbourne Victory at a sold-out Gosford on Saturday night.

He'll be up against fellow Canberran Jason Geria, who will likely play right back for the Victory in their bid to end Central Coast's reign.

While he's focused on helping the Mariners claim the treble, Bernal said Canberra finally announcing an ALM team of their own would also count as a big prize as well.

The Mariners won the ALM championship last year and have backed that up by finishing top of the table to win this year's premier's plate, while also adding the AFC Cup to their trophy cabinet this season.

It's all happened since Bernal joined the club two years ago, with the former Socceroo adding Australian trophies as a coach to the National Soccer League title he won with Sydney Olympic as a player.

Bernal's role is as a conduit between the Central Coast coaching staff and their strength-and-conditioning department.

"The treble of winning the league, grand final and an Asian cup has never been done - probably never will be for a long time if we happen to achieve that," he said.

"That's always something that's in the back of the mind to strive for."

One of the minnows of the ALM, it will be a Cinderella story if the Mariners win.

It will also see them go above the Brisbane Roar in terms of trophies won - with only Victory and Sydney FC having won more in the ALM landscape.

That would finally be some good news story for the beleaguered Australian Professional Leagues - the A-League bosses have gone from one disaster to another this year.

The APL reportedly threatened to cut annual club funding by about 80 per cent to just $500,000, which would put a lot of ALM clubs under serious financial pressure.

Then last week there was the betting scandal where three players were charged with allegations of deliberately getting yellow cards in certain games.

"There's drama and all sports have their darker days," Bernal said.

"We've had a few dramas with what's happened in the news of late, but you can only control what you can control.

"We try and control what happens at the Central Coast Mariners - control trying to win trophies, trying to be successful, trying to fill our stadium.

"We can only create high standards and high entertainment ... that brings fans to the stadium."

While his focus was on helping the Mariners to victory on Saturday, Bernal said it would be a massive boost for him and Canberra if his home city could finally get an ALM team over the line.

The bid has been "close" to being announced for months, with it now looking unlikely they'll field a team in the 2024/25 ALM season.

There could still be a chance the bid takes Canberra United's running off Capital Football's hands ahead of next summer and focuses on the A-League Women's side for a season.

Then they'd hopefully bring in an ALM team for the 2025/26 campaign.

"I just hope we do get a club. I think the nation's capital should have a club and deserves a club in the A-League [Men]," Bernal said.

"Besides myself there's other good Canberra players and coaches that have had to leave the city because we don't have an A-League team.

"I'm glad I'm flying the flag for Canberra. It's something a lot of us in Canberra football circles wish it would become a reality one day."

A-LEAGUE MEN GRAND FINAL

Saturday: Central Coast Mariners v Melbourne Victory at Gosford, 7.45pm.