Mariners to gain from long break

The Mariners are currently amidst an eight-day break between A-League matches and Rose said the long gap between games will help ensure the team is fully prepared to take on John Aloisi’s men at AAMI Park.

“I think it definitely helps,” Rose said of the break.

“It helps the boys recover fully and helps us work on a few things that maybe we need to work on.”

Nevertheless, Rose said that despite the disappointing, albeit controversial defeat in Newcastle, the team had taken many positives from its performance at Hunter Stadium.

“It was a disappointing result for us,” he said.

“We always want to win especially against Newcastle, but straight after the game Arnie (Graham Arnold) came in and was really positive about the way we played.

“He said ‘don’t get discouraged, keep trying to play, keep passing the ball around’. We’ve just got to look at the positives and go from there.”

Rose added that any game in Melbourne is a tough one, no matter if the team is coming up against Victory or Heart.

And he said Heart’s wide men such as Aziz Behich and Mate Dugandzic would be threats this weekend.

“Heart look quite organised under (John) Aloisi, it seems like he’s doing a good job with them,” he said.

“They’ve got dangerous players out wide, big Dylan Macallister up front, so it’s definitely going to be a big battle.

“If we can get the ball down and play we know we can go there and get the three points.”

Rose said he is buoyed by the big crowds and coverage the A-League is currently receiving thanks to the 'big-three', as well as a good standard of football and a tightly contested competition so far.

“I think it’s fantastic,” he said of Emile Heskey, Shinji Ono and Alessandro Del Piero.

“They’re bringing crowds to the games which is great for the A-League and also they look like they’re performing on the pitch well.

“They’re (Heskey and Del Piero) both putting away goals for their teams so they’re doing their job on the park as well, so I think overall it’s great for the A-League,” Rose concluded.