Tara Murray
The Sunbury Jets will get a clear idea of where they sit in the pecking order in the next few weeks in the Big V men’s state championship.
The Jets have two weeks off due a bye and the King’s Birthday weekend, but remain at the top of a congested top six.
Jets coach John White said it had been a bit of an interrupted period before the couple of weeks off.
“We’re pretty happy with where we are with our ladder position, but we have a lot to do on the training court,” he said.
“We have a lot of improvement still to come. We were starting to get the group together earlier in the season, we had a couple of injuries that derailed us a bit.
“We’re starting to work back into some form now after falling apart in the McKinnon game.
“Hopefully we’ll be close to full strength after the bye.”
The loss of Jeremy Wragg with an ankle injury has hurt the team, with Wragg playing a massive part in the side’s early season success.
A few others have been carrying around injuries.
“We’ve had a few guys carrying niggles,” White said. “Gerald Blackshear has had a bit of an ankle injury as well.
“We’ve been looking to get some work into the ankle and we’ve had a few other players with some niggles. That’s part of having a bit of an older side.”
White said the first bye came at a good time for the group to allow them to regroup. He said having a second week off gave them another week to work on things ahead of a big back end of the season.
“We’re a couple of games behind other teams in terms of games being played,” he said. “It’s another week to get things right with a fairly packed schedule for the next few weeks.”
White said while they were on top of the ladder, they know that they can’t be content. They play several of the other contenders in the run home, so finals spots are on the line.
“We spoke about that after our last game,” he said.
“It felt like an ugly win against Melbourne University. We spoke about what the next month looks like and we play a lot of the top teams and we will see where we are at.
“There will be some things to work on going forward and they will be highlighted in the next few weeks.”
It’s not only the Jets men’s side that was on top of the ladder at the bye, with their youth league men’s side sitting on top of its pool.
They have an 11-2 record.
White said it was good to see them having some success as well.
“A few of the guys have mates in the team,” he said.
“There’s a buzz around the men’s program. I’m happy for John de Jonge and those guys to be getting the returns they are.”
