THE Western Jets will enter this year’s TAC Cup campaign with co-captains for the first time since 2006.
Brett Bewley and Harrison King will both lead the Jets after making the six-man leadership group last month.
On the eve of round one, which for the Jets will commence this Sunday against Sandringham, new coach Torin Baker says to expect a few minor changes to the systems implemented by former coach Steve Kretiuk.
“I’ve been fortunate enough to work with Steve and so no doubt there’s a lot of those elements that were really successful that we’re going to continue,” Baker told Star.
“But footy changes all the time and you need to keep up to date with those changes and there’ll be a couple of additions.”
One of those new elements is the make-up of the leadership group, which includes bottom-ager Luke Pulitano.
“We’ll also make some small changes in the style of footy we’ll play,” Baker added.
“With where footy’s going and what we’re doing, hopefully it will lead to some success.”
As is the norm for most TAC Cup clubs, the priority will be developing the talent they have at their disposal and less so on the win-loss record.
However Baker said on-field success would impact the make-up of the side from week to week.
“It’ll depend on how many players we play during the course of the season and that will also depend on results in the early stages,” Baker said of possible team selection strategies.
“You may play more of your list if results aren’t going your way, but if results are going well it’s hard to drop guys that are playing good football.
“No doubt we’d love to play finals – but ladder position is not the be all and end all for us.”
Baker is looking forward to working with a diverse 53-man squad and says he is happy with the upbeat and injury-free pre-season.
“I think we’ve got a good under-17 group that’s coming through,” Baker said.
“We got a lot of games into our 18-year-old group and that’s combined with some players that have shown they can play well at that level, and that’s the 19-year-old guys as well.
“So from that point of view the squad’s in good shape.”
New skipper Bewley has enjoyed a strong pre-season and looks set to pounce across half back and through the midfield this season, while Mark Orr and James Sicily are also expecting to turn heads.
Baker also noted the return of Jake McKenzie (19 in May), who spent the summer training with Williamstown after missing out in last year’s drafts.
Bottom-agers Billy Myers and Corey Ellis will also be two of the Jets’ talented youngsters worth keeping an eye on throughout the year.
