Mike Mulvey celebrates with Ivan Franjic during the semi-final against Melbourne Victory on Sunday. Credit:Getty Images That the top two teams will play off in the decider is a fitting finale, and again illustrates the value of finishing at the head of the standings. In recent years only Perth Glory - in 2011-12 - has come from further back than second to make the decider, and no team has come from outside the top two to win the title in the league's 10 years. The Wanderers only made sure of second spot in the final round, but they have made the most of their advantage. The draw has helped them too, with their final Asian Champions League match being at home last week while fellow semi-finalists, third-placed Central Coast and fourth-placed Melbourne Victory, had to travel to Japan and South Korea before fronting up for their A-League semis. That's how it should be, though.

Mike Mulvey with his A-League coach-of-the-year award on Monday night. Credit:Getty Images While Australia does not embrace the first-past-the-post system that defines the champions in most other countries - and there are valid cultural and financial reasons why there is a finals system in this market place - finishing top of the pile and, to a lesser extent, second best, should confer some advantages. So while Brisbane might look to have ensured itself a saloon passage to the biggest game of the season, with a week's rest and then a home semi-final before hosting the grand final, it earned that right with its performances in the 27 rounds of the home-and-away season. It can be argued that, rather like Liverpool in the English Premier League this season, Roar, lacking the distractions of continental competition, could focus primarily on the league and give it the sort of attention that the Wanderers, Victory and Mariners could not, given that all three had half an eye on their ACL commitments. It's probably a fair point: Mulvey certainly hasn't had to juggle his resources in the manner of Popovic, who has rotated his squad and brought players in and out for specific games and to do certain jobs, all the while mindful of their form and fitness and readiness for the job at hand.

But its also true that the Roar had a tinge of rustiness when it came in against Melbourne Victory on Sunday, something to which Mulvey alluded. Having not played at all for a fortnight and not in a meaningful sense since wrapping up the Premiers Plate on March 22 - three games before the end of the regular season - Roar could not have been anything like as match sharp as it would have liked. The coach warned his opposition straight after the game that, rather like a horse who needed a final run before the Melbourne Cup to top off his preparation, Roar would improve substantially for the hitout and be at its top. Popovic, rightly, has earned the plaudits for his handling of the Wanderers, whom he has led to a Premiers Plate and grand final loss last season as well as the last 16 of the ACL in their first essay at the continental championship. But plenty of credit should be given to Mulvey, too. A grand final triumph would create a remarkable rise for the Manchester-born coach who has been involved in Queensland football since the early 1980s, when he played at a modest level in the state league. Mulvey provides yet another example that you don't have to have played at the highest level to be a successful coach - as the record of men such as Arsene Wenger, Jose Mourinho and now Brendan Rodgers illustrates in the high-pressure arena of the EPL.

The tall, slim Roar boss is a skilful manager and organiser who has come from almost nowhere in the past two years to stamp himself as one of the league's leading coaches. Like so many ''overnight successes'', he has taken more than two decades to get there, largely working his way through the ranks in junior coaching in the sunshine state. Mulvey came to wider public attention when he was Miron Bleiberg's assistant at Gold Coast United, and when the charismatic Israeli fell out with billionaire owner Clive Palmer in the final death throes of the Surfers Paradise-based club, Mulvey took charge for the last six games. He then made the bold move - for someone in soccer's mainstream - of taking on the position as Melbourne Victory's women's coach before being called in to rescue Roar's 2012-13 season after Ange Postecoglou's successor, Rado Vidosic, was fired with the team floundering at the foot of the table. Should he manage to make history for the club on Sunday, then further challenges await; he will have to show himself capable of juggling the demands of ACL competition and defending an A-League title next season. It's not something Postecoglou managed, as Brisbane could finish only third in its group in 2012 behind eventual winner Ulsan Hyundai and FC Tokyo, failing to win a match. It then failed to qualify for the 2013 ACL, losing to Thai club Burninam in a penalty shootout after a scoreless draw in the qualifying tie.

If Mulvey can do better than his illustrious predecessor, he will really have made his mark in his adopted homeland - something Popovic has already done in his home city.