BYMARKMURRAY
THE Western Jets could this year enjoy one of their most successful TAC Cup seasons, according to regional manager Shane Sexton.
The Jets missed the finals last year, finishing two games outside the top eight in 10th place, but had a number of bottom-age players show enormous potential.
They have continued to impress over summer, which has lifted the excitement at Brookside Oval.
The club also had one player taken in the Australian Football League (AFL) National Draft, when promising left-footer Bashar Houli was taken by Essendon at pick 42.
Sexton said the young Jets took their eye-catching track form into the pre-season camp and jumper presentation at Victoria University’s Footscray Campus on the weekend.
“We’ve been pretty happy with our pre-season and off-season period,” Sexton said. “We have played three practice matches over the past month against quality opposition and have been very impressed with how the kids have performed.
“We think we’ll be pretty competitive this year, but we’ll obviously just have to wait and see how competitive.
“It’s always going to be a test playing in a quality competition like this one, but if we can keep the intensity up over four quarters we think we can have one of our better seasons in recent times, and that’s the aim.”
The Jets have played last year’s top three ranked teams in practice matches over the past month, and impressed in all.
The team led reigning premier Oakleigh Chargers for the bulk of the first half before lapsing in the second term, while a similar scenario unfolded against Northern Knights.
The Knights were unlucky not to have met the Chargers in last year’s TAC Cup grand final after they were pipped by three points in the preliminary final by the Calder Cannons, who were the Jets’ third opponent this month.
“Out of the three games we have probably had two bad quarters,” Sexton said. “In the second quarter against Northern I think they kicked about seven goals to one and the same thing happened against Oakleigh.
“We’ve been pretty encouraged.”
The Jets meet Oakleigh in the TAC Cup season opener on Saturday at Burbank Oval in a tough assignment.
“It’s a big test first up but I think it’s a good thing,” Sexton said.
“We’ve had a bit of a look at them and are looking forward to the challenge.”
Attending the camp on the weekend was Essendon recruiting manager Adrian Dororo and nutritionist Johann Bilsboraugh, while Victorian Metro coach David Dixon was a keynote speaker.
Houli, who was picked up by the Bombers after starring for the Jets last year and representing Vic Metro at the AFL Under 18 National Championships, presented the jumpers to the current squad of Jets.
