WHO'S afraid of the Brisbane Roar? Not the Central Coast Mariners, who have vowed not to be intimidated by the prospect of taking on the A-League juggernauts when they clash in the first leg of the major semi-final tomorrow night.

Ange Postecoglou's side are basking in a record 25-game unbeaten streak, and had their dominance confirmed this week in the naming of the PFA team of the year, with seven players in the starting line-up and another, prolific hitman Jean Carlos Solorzano, on the bench. By contrast, Graham Arnold's side only squeezed in Josh Rose as a substitute.

Bookmakers have installed Brisbane as red-hot $2.25 favourites to win the title but Mariners captain Alex Wilkinson couldn't care less, and said his team would serve it up to the minor premiers.

''Brisbane haven't lost at home all season so we know just how hard it will be there in the second leg, and that means we've got no choice but go straight at them on Saturday night,'' he told the Herald. ''A lot of people didn't think we'd feature in the finals this year but to get 57 points is a great achievement, and in any other year that would have made us minor premiers. Now we're looking forward to testing ourselves against them because they're the benchmark - and not just for this year, but for the whole six years of the A-League.''

In their three encounters this season, the Mariners have lost twice (5-1 at home and 2-0 away) and drawn once (3-3 at home) to Brisbane but it was that final draw that has Wilkinson believing his side has closed the gap.

''Since that game where we lost 5-1, I think we've improved 50 to 100 per cent, so much so that we should have won the 3-3 game,'' he said. ''We let in a few soft goals, and that final goal should never have happened.

''But we've learned from that night. That's Brisbane Roar in a nutshell - how many times have they gone down before fighting back? Their team spirit is fantastic; you can never write them off. It's a huge test but if we want to be champions, it's the one we have to face.''

Meanwhile, the Mariners' reward should they beat Brisbane is unlikely to be a home grand final at Bluetongue Stadium. Football Federation Australia is expected to move the match to the Sydney Football Stadium.