By Luke D’Anello
WESTERN Jets left too much to too few in their 28-point loss against Gippsland Power on Saturday, according to coach Steve Kretiuk.
The Jets went down, 10.14 (74) to 7.4 (46), but Kretiuk is confident of a better showing should his team face the Power again in the first week of the TAC Cup finals series.
The turnover bug also cost the Jets, who led by three points at the first change but struggled to use the ball efficiently thereafter.
“I was probably happy with the efforts from the majority of the blokes. We had seven or eight guys who were really poor in their impact they had on the game,” Kretiuk said.
“We had to pick up the slack from a few guys, who probably didn’t contribute. Our pressure on them was quite good. All it really came down to was our cleanliness with the footy by hand and foot.
“Our efforts to tackle and harass were really good, but we just turned the footy over too many times.
“We’re usually sitting around 70 or 80 per cent with our efficiency by hand, but we probably cost ourselves about 20 inside 50s by just missing one or two-metre handballs. The times we went inside 50, we looked quite dangerous.”
Kretiuk said it was unlikely the team would have so many players down on the same day again.
“We lost, but I’m pretty confident if we can play our best footy, I reckon we can match it with Gippsland if we get them in a final.
“I don’t think all those guys will be down again, because they’re quality footballers.”
Jordan Mead and Mitchell Turnbull both impressed for the Jets in their return from injury.
“They didn’t wait for one or two weeks to get their form back. They were straight into it, which was great, and they picked up the slack from the other guys.”
The ever-consistent Adam Kennedy was influential in midfield, while Jaxon Cooke led the way in the attacking half with three goals.
On the negative side, Ben Casley, who this week was invited to the AFL national draft combine, suffered a dislocated shoulder.
“It’s real unfortunate for us because he’s been outstanding in the back half of this year. It just means we have to find someone else who is going to stand up and play his role.”
The Jets have a bye this weekend and finish the regular season with three wins. Kretiuk said it would be business as usual at training during the next fortnight.
