Van Marwijk is on whistle-stop tour of Australia and was in the stands at McDonald Jones Stadium for the Jets’ hard fought 2-0 win over Melbourne Victory on Saturday. It was the second of three A-League games the Dutchman will attended as he assesses talent ahead of friendlies next month against Norway and Colombia.

If it was an audition, Petratos certainly out-shined Victory opposite and Socceroos regular James Troisi.

The 25-year-old play-maker whipped in a piercing freekick from near the left touchline for Nigel Boogaard to glance into the right corner for the home side’s opener in the 30th minute.

Earlier he dropped a swinging cross into the path of  Roy O’Donovan, only for the returning striker to flash a header  past the right post.

Apart from Petratos’ potency from set-pieces, the in-form attacker carved out a host of chances with clever passes, was composed under pressure, played out of tight situations and closed down in defence.

“I am not about to tell the new Socceroos coach who to pick but we had several players who did well,” Merrick said. “Dimi has been performing really well all year. It is not just a one-off, he is a consistent performer.”

Another Socceroos hopeful Riley McGree, playing his second game on loan from Club Brugge, sealed the win for the Jets in the 72^nd minute. The teenager had been introduced by Merrick in a bid to wrest back control of the midfield, but the 19-year-old went one better, making a run at the far post to slot home a low Andrew Nabbout cross.

“We have a variety of players who can play different positions and I’m sure they all impressed the Socceroos coach,” Merrick said.

Boogaard’s opener was the defender’s first goal since October last year and just the seventh in 212 A-League appearances. 

“I have been asking Nigel and Nikolai to get forward on corner kicks and wide freekicks,” Merrick said. “I expect them to score goals and they have now both scored from those situations.”

Boogaard was “happy to get on the scoresheet” and even more delighted with the three points.

“When you have blokes like Dimi and Pato Rodriguez whipping the ball in for you, it is your job to get on the end of it,” the skipper said.

Merrick was equally impressed with Boogaard and central defensive partner Nikolai Topor-Stanley at the other end of the pitch.

“I thought the two of them were immense defensively,” the coach said. “They are among the best combinations in the league.”

It wasn’t the most fluent performance from the Jets. Indeed, they relied on desperate defending and a series of superb saves by Jack Duncan to bank  three points.

“Anyone on the ball was closed down very quickly,” Merrick said. “We defended extremely well throughout the game from the back four to our midfield to our front runners.  The longer the game went on, especially with us up 2-0, they were going to throw numbers forward and we had to weather that storm.”

The win propelled the Jets to 37 points – the most in a season in their history – and leaves them within touching distance of a home final, despite eight rounds remaining.

“It was a bit of a rehearsal,” Merrick said. “Next time we play Victory it will be in the finals, the way the cards look like they will fall. We really have to work on keeping the ball in midfield, defending well and getting numbers forward. We did pretty well.”

The Jets have four days off and don’t play again until Friday week away to Western Sydney.

“We have played consistently well all year,” Merrick said. “We have played 19 games and lost four. I don’t want mental fatigue, I want them fresh. The best time to have a break is when you have just won a match against a quality side.”