After a long and exciting build-up, the Newcastle Jets season is finally here and no one is more excited than defender Tarek Elrich.
After a long and exciting build-up, the Newcastle Jets season is finally here and no one is more excited than defender Tarek Elrich.
“It has been six months since the team first assembled at Ray Watt Oval,” Elrich said.
“We have been looking forward to today and for the season to finally start.”
A long but rewarding pre-season with the Jets undefeated after 11 games, two which saw them come face to face with A-League competitors, Sydney FC and round one rivals, Melbourne Heart.
“I think we dominated our games against FC and Heart and I hope we can take this form into the season,” the number eleven added.
Perhaps most impressive during the Jets pre-season has been their defensive efforts in which they went eight games without conceding any goals.
“During the pre-season we concentrated a lot on defence, particularly defending from the front line,” Elrich said.
“Craig Deans has been working with the defenders from the start and the fact that our opposition did not score any goals in eight of our pre season games is a huge achievement.”
Preparations for today-s game have gone well and the Jets will run onto the newly complete Ausgrid Stadium well aware of what is ahead of them.
“It is the first game of the season and we are not going to let it slip through our fingers because of recent events,” he added.
“We know how Heart play and we will be looking to move the ball quickly and catch them out at the back.”
