By LIAM TWOMEY
A CHANGE of state wasn’t enough to change the fortunes of the Western Jets after being defeated by Tasmania in a low-scoring match at Aurora Stadium on Saturday.
It was the Tasmanian side’s first run in this year’s TAC Cup competition, but that didn’t seem to make any difference as the home team ran out nine-point winners.
Only inaccurate kicking stopped Tasmania from sealing the win earlier in the contest as the Jets’ struggled to pick up the pace of the game.
Western Jets’ coach Steve Kretiuk was unimpressed with the lack of fight his players showed in the early part of the match.
“I think their (Tasmania’s) inaccuracy really kept us in the game especially in the first half. We spoke about that at half time. I don’t think we could have played any worse in the first half,” he said.
“We left it up to the players at half time to address where they were at, and they certainly came out in the third quarter and gave a better effort. We had a lot of contributors and players who started attacking the football with a lot better intensity.”
The Jets managed to force their way back into the match, but couldn’t maintain the high standard for long enough to complete the comeback win.
“We certainly got ourselves back in the contest in the last quarter, but a few players went away from the basics that got us there. They tried to invent something out of nothing to win the match off their own boot,” Kretiuk said.
“We needed to just stick to the basics. We shouldn’t have been in the game, but we were. We just couldn’t get over the line.”
Jake McKenzie was outstanding for the Jets to be named best on ground in the 6.15 (51) to 6.6 (42) defeat.
