Central Coast Mariners head coach John Hutchinson has likened Diesel Herrington to his brother and Socceroos sensation Lucas Herrington ahead of the 2026-27 A-League Men season.
Diesel Herrington is the older brother of Hull City and Australia international teenager Lucas, who earned a blockbuster moved to the Premier League this season after starring at the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Mariners defender Diesel, who is a centre-back like Lucas, heads into the A-League campaign on the back of signing a two-year contract extension and an injury-free pre-season in Gosford, where he has spent the past three years.
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The 21-year-old, who has made 21 Central Coast appearances since joining from Danish side Aarhus Gymnastikforening, was singled out by Mariners legend Hutchinson days out from the club’s season-opening F3 Derby against rivals Newcastle Jets on Saturday night.
“One player that’s had a tough few years at the club is Diesel Herrington,” Hutchinson told reporters. “He’s obviously come in this pre-season. He completed his first full 90 minutes on the weekend.
“Nick – our medical guy – has done a wonderful job to get him back to where he is now.
“For me, his ceiling is wherever he wants it to be. He is an incredible footballer, great guy.
“Obviously his brother has had huge success as well in the last few years but I see Diesel as the same.
“He has super impressed me with his ability, on and off the ball.”
The Mariners are preparing to welcome reigning premiers Newcastle to Gosford following their forgettable 4-2 pre-season loss to NPL outfit APIA Leichhardt last week.
“We’ve had some really good performances where, take away results, we’ve had some good performances where our behaviours on the field, what we’re trying to do, has been very high,” Hutchinson said.
> “We’ve also had some performances where they’re just unacceptable, really. So it’s on a roller coaster. You know, it’s hard to judge these boys. Sometimes they’re going to put in one where the performance is just not going to be there.
“That’s the biggest area, it’s consistency for us. Our consistency of what we try to do every day is still growing. Obviously, a lot of young players, a few senior boys in there, it’s just trying to get consistency of what we want to be.”
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It has also been a busy off-season for the Mariners following the arrival of new owners – Total Soccer Growth Holdings (TSG), who also own a majority shareholding in EFL Championship side Queens Park Rangers as well as a minority stake in MLS club Los Angeles FC.
With new owners, Central Coast have recruited young guns like Luke Becvinovski, Max Naylor and NPL NSW golden boot winner Presley Ortiz, plus foreigners John-Kymani Gordon, Daniel Scarlett, Rufai Abubakar and Noah Mccann.
“Recruitment’s obviously difficult. The TSG group are recruiting players they see for the future and for now to help us,” Hutchinson explained.
> “Obviously, that balance is what they deem necessary for the club. We integrated all the new players at the start of pre-season. We’ve obviously had a few bunch come in now, so that takes us back then to day zero.
“We’ve had four months with our players now, so trying to get them up to scratch is what we’re trying to achieve right now. But overall, the group’s looking looking fresh.
“They looked really tired on Saturday. That’s my fault. I’ll take responsibility. We gave them two really hard days of training and leading into to that game. I needed them to play under a bit of fatigue, which they did.
“But at the moment, they’re looking good, and hopefully, new recruits can help instantly.”