This weekend’s opponents are a familiar foe for most in the Jets side.
Last season’s grand final nemesis, Melbourne Victory are a side who Newcastle has enjoyed a number of memorable and enjoyable tussles with throughout the year.
One man who has plied his trade on both sides of that fence is fullback, Daniel Georgievski, who spent three seasons in Melbourne with the Victory between 2014-2017.
The Australian-born, Macedonian international joined the Club at the beginning of the 2017/18 season and played 18 matches in what was a dream campaign for Jets fans.
FIVE THINGS: Talking points for Victory on Sunday
Injury limited Georgievski to just two appearances against his former club last season, but the determined defender is keen to rip in against familiar faces on Saturday.
“It’ll be fun. It’s different playing Melbourne City [at AAMI Park] than it is playing Victory, so it’ll be fun,” he said.
“Last year, I tried to get fit for it, I was coming back from injury. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to get there but this year it’s heaps better.
“We have a group on Whatsapp, so we still speak. Lawrence Thomas, Jai [Ingham], boys like that. They’re all pretty cool, coaching staff too. You don’t forget.
“It’ll just be one of those games where we’ll have to push hard, you know, with the crowd against you but at the same time, the pressure is all on Victory.
“We’ll go out there and try to perform against them like we did in the first couple of rounds, where we should have got something out of the game.”
Getting something out of games has been a bit of a sticking point for the Jets this season, who are on 12 points after 12 games.
Finishing has been acknowledged as the key issue, with the boys putting in good shift after good shift without the results to show for it.
Sunday afternoon’s effort against a Melbourne City side with the man advantage would have been encouraging for every Jets fans around Newcastle, and that elusive run of wins isn’t far away.
Georgievski believes that in order to do just that, they’ll have to continue showing the tenacity they have so far this season.
“I think persistence will pay off… we’ve attacked, outplayed, every team we’ve played against but we haven’t got the result we wanted to,” he said.
“Everyone has been playing well in their own way, if we just keep at it, the rewards will come. Regardless of who we’re playing, hopefully it’ll be better this weekend and we’ll get a result.”
And if it the fullback, who hit the post against City, nets the winner, will he celebrate?
“I didn’t last time. My only goal for the Jets was against the Victory, but I won’t be thinking about that… I’ll be thinking about assisting someone else.
“Bloody post! I scored one or two at AAMI Park with Victory, but if that had happened to go in it would have been pretty cool.”
