Craig Deans believes September’s trial match against the Brisbane Roar will be a good test of the Jets’ progress so far.
Hunter Ports Newcastle Jets assistant coach Craig Deans believes September-s trial match against the Brisbane Roar will be a good test of how far the Jets have progressed this pre-season.
Deans said the Jets’ coaching staff are happy with what the playing squad has achieved so far, but they are looking forward to seeing the players tested against A-League opponents.
“We-ve had a good solid 10 weeks of training and we-ve had three or four games that have allowed us to work on some basic stuff, but we need to be working under a bit more pressure,” he said.
“We need to see how we cope with being under pressure for 20 to 30 minutes during a half of football and how we react to that.
“That-s probably when we-ll get a better sense of the character of some people and how they react together.”
Deans said he was also looking forward to seeing how the Roar are shaping up for the 2012/13 season under new coach Rado Vidosic.
“Obviously they-ve got a new coach and it-ll be quite interesting to see if they-ve changed at all,” he said.
“I know Rado has spoken about them being a little bit more direct this year but I don-t know how that will affect their style of play, if it affects it at all.
“We-ll see how they-ve changed and if they-ve changed and we-ll test ourselves against top quality opposition in them.”
You can find out more details about the Newcastle Jets’ trial match against the Brisbane Roar in Tamworth on Saturday, September 1 by clicking HERE
The Jets will play another intra-club trial match at Ray Watt Oval on Wednesday, with another game against the NBN State League Select to be played the following week.
Deans said the Jets are hoping to lock-in more pre-season fixtures against A-League teams to provide themselves with ideal preparation for the season.
“Ideally we-d like to play four or five A-League teams in the lead-up to the start of the season and then we-ll taper off before the start of the competition,” he said.
