In this week’s edition of Jets Insider, Ryan Griffiths answers questions submitted by the Club’s Members and supporters.
In this week-s edition of Jets Insider, Hunter Ports Newcastle Jets forward Ryan Griffiths answers questions submitted by the Club-s Members and supporters.
Griffths answers questions about Saturday-s trial against the Western Sydney Wanderers, his experiences playing overseas and where the best fishing spots in the Hunter are.
Michael Peters asks via email: Are you looking forward to this weekend-s Member-only trial match against the Wanderers and catching up with some old teammates?
Ryan Griffiths (RG): It-s good to have a new team in the competition and it-ll be interesting to see how we go against them on Saturday.
When it comes to playing against your old teammates, you just have to let all that go once you-re out on the field and give it your all. That-s the whole competitive nature that you need to have as a professional.
I-m good mates with Tarek (Elrich) and the other boys, but once I-m on the field I-ll be doing my best to rip in and I-m sure it-ll be the same for them.
@Stu_theMagpie via Twitter: Hey Ryan, If GVE (Gary van Egmond) asked you to suggest a No. 9 for the Jets to buy, who would top your list, realistically speaking?
RG: I suppose it would always be great to have my brother Joel back at Newcastle. It-s been proven in the past that our combination up front can work really well so it would be good to have him here, but I-ll leave those decisions up to the football staff.
@zacmoose asks via Twitter: Do you speak Chinese?
RG: I can-t write Chinese, I can read a little bit and I can speak almost fluently. I haven-t been back there for two years now and I haven-t spoken a word since, so maybe I have to go back to some Chinese restaurants and start ordering some food so I can touch up on it.
When you play overseas I think it helps a lot to speak the language because it helps you to make friends and they respect you more for learning their language.
@Keefy91 asks via Twitter: What’s the best football stadium you have ever played on?
RG: Atmosphere wise, my home stadium in Beijing, Gongti (Workers Stadium), has an amazing atmosphere. When we won the Championship there it was deafening. Our average crowd was about 40,000 and when we won it we had over 60,000 there for that game. I couldn-t hear myself think, it was just crazy.
The other one is Panathinaikos- stadium where I played a UEFA Cup game. That was really loud and it was a beautiful, brand new stadium, so it-s definitely up there as well.
Scott Phillips asks via email: If it was left up to you, would you prefer playing as a No.9 or on the wing?
RG: I think I-m more of a natural winger, but at the moment I-m embracing the role of playing as the top man. I-ve played there in the past and feel pretty comfortable there.
@joshholt22 asks via Twitter: How do you rate your chances of putting some goals past Sydney FC with your brother now part of their defence?
RG: I never like to play against my brother and I don-t know if anyone really does. I-ll have to do what I have to do come game time. I-ll put it through his legs a few times and then put one into the top corner.
@chippalatar asks via Twitter: Griffo, where are you fishing at the moment?
RG: Just offshore at the moment catching some snapper. If I gave you the exact spots I-d have to kill you! Jacob Pepper and I have got our spots and a few of the newer boys are getting involved now as well which is good.
Tom Pritchard asks via email: Are you happy with what you-ve got out of pre-season so far in terms of your own fitness and performance?
RG: I feel super fit. I think now we might start to taper down a little bit before the start of the season.
I-ve got plenty of running in my legs and I-ve played lots of games so far. I think I-ve only missed one session the whole pre-season, so I feel as fit and confident and the team is playing really well so I-m happy with our progress.
@mrhauss asks via Twitter: Do you think the youngsters have what it takes to step up and help us regain the ascendency in the F3 derby?
RG: We-ve got youngsters, but they-re winners and that-s what you want in derby matches.
The ones we-ve brought in are highly skilled, technically good and they listen to the coach. They want to win and be involved in the first grade team. I think they-re going to progress throughout the season with the help of some older guys like myself, Bridgey, Jobe and Ruben guiding them.
Kelly Clarke asks via email: After such a long pre-season, how exciting is it knowing that the first game is less than a month away?
RG: I still haven-t even really thought about it to be honest. I-m the kind of guy who tries to save all of his nervous energy and not get too far ahead of myself.
I am excited of course because I can-t wait to play that first game, but in saying that you-ve got to keep your feet on the ground and focus on these games we-ve still got left to play in pre-season.
Hopefully I can stay injury-free and fit so I can go into that first game flying.
For next week-s Jets Insider interview midfielder Jacob Pepper will answer YOUR questions. Simply tweet your question using the #JetsInsider hashtag or send your question to communications@huntersportsgroup.com by COB Wednesday. Then check back in Jets Insider next week to see if your question is answered.
