Perth seems to be suffering a season-long post-grand final hangover, while Newcastle struggles not just to score goals but to keep them out too: despite the fact that it lies fifth on the table, one point clear of Heart, it has the second-worst goal difference in the competition. So what is Heart's problem? Critics argue that its team is too young, that it lacks strength in depth, that its veterans are too old and injury prone, that its tight financial position means it cannot bring in new faces when it needs to bolster its ranks and that it constantly loses its best players. All these are issues for Heart: but they are issues for other clubs too. Central Coast consistently loses its stars, Wellington is hardly flush with funds, West Sydney was thrown together in a matter of months, yet it is highly competitive. Heart's biggest problem is its lack of consistency. Several times this season it has been in positions to win games yet thrown it away. Two up inside four minutes against the Jets, a game that ended up 3-3. Two up in 15 minutes in Wellington, only to lose 3-2; 1-0 up in Sydney with four minutes to go, a game in which the host pulled off an unlikely 2-1 win.

There are other occasions when it got less than it might have - especially in the last derby, when it lost 2-1 to Victory thanks to Archie Thompson's last-gasp winner - but the three results outlined above are perhaps the most glaring. Nine points thrown away through a failure to do a basic professional job and shut the match down. It's hard to blame the kids for Saturday's debacle, when Josip Tadic's missed penalty following Polenz's red card proved to be so costly. Yes, Heart fielded teenagers Jeremy Walker and David Vrankovic at the back, but the problems stem more from the inconsistency of several older players, many of whom come out of contract at the end of the season. Matt Thompson was a vibrant figure for Heart in its first two seasons, but he doesn't seem to be having the same sort of influence this year. But at least he is out there and fit to play. Captain Fred is a critical figure, but his injury record is poor. He has played in 14 games this season, but rarely completes a fixture. At 33, his best days are behind him, so it will be interesting to see how Heart deals with him at the end of the season when his contract is up. It's impossible to see him being paid as a marquee player again. Simon Colosimo is out through injury and is an important organiser at the back. But he, too, is in the veteran stage - he turned 34 in January - and Heart needs him back to help bolster its rearguard at the business end of the season.

There are other players in their mid-20s and beyond - Tadic, Argentinian Jonathan Germano, striker David Williams, midfielder Nick Kalmar - who have been around long enough now not to be part of teams with such wildly fluctuating formlines. Thompson, Kalmar, Colosimo, Fred and Germano, among others, come off contract at the end of this campaign. While they might not be playing for their careers for the remainder of this season, they might well be playing for the size and length of any future contract. If they can rediscover consistency then it is not too late for Heart to consolidate itself in a finals berth. One figure who can be exonerated in all of this is former Socceroo Richie Garcia, who has played with pace, verve and intensity through most of the season and become a key player for Heart. Garcia scores goals, sets them up, hustles, harries and generally provides the fizz up front that prevents other clubs from settling. And he is honest to boot, tweeting at the end of the game against the Wanderers that the performance simply wasn't good enough and that the team ''were not at the races today''.

He, too, is out of contract. He may be looking for a bigger pay day to end his career in Asia, but if Heart can keep him it would be advised to do so. One thing is in its favour this weekend. While most clubs fear playing Victory, Heart seems to grow a leg. It has had the better of the derbies to date, and needs to regain momentum in this one.