By Tom Ingleton
Sunbury Jets’ Big V men’s squad is ready to hit the ground running for another exciting season in 2025.
After an intense pre-season, coach Nathan Heywood says the team is eager to showcase their hard work. The Jets kicked off their season on the weekend with a double header.
“Game one kicks off Saturday, and we are super excited to put it all on the court after a long pre-season,” Heywood said before the weekend.
“We’ve played a few warm-up practice games, so it’s good to finally get out there, and I think we are going to be an exciting team.”
The squad boasts a mix of returning stars and fresh talent. Import Joshua Yorke-Frazer is back for another season, while Byron Gladden Jnr has been brought in to bolster the team’s inside presence.
“We are hoping Byron can be our highlight maker,” Heywood said.
“We think he can offer us rim protection and be that paint presence, which we sort of lacked last year.”
Sunbury is also placing an emphasis on home-grown talent, with several rising stars stepping up to the senior squad.
“I’m really pleased to say we have a lot of home-grown talent,” Heywood said.
“Guys like Jack Betson, who was captain of our youth league team, making his senior debut, and three under-18 state players Sonny Maxwell, Samuel Haslett and Alex Gray, with the later duo debuting on Saturday.
“Our team is going to have a real local flavour mixed in with high International talent.”
While Sunbury’s strong defensive identity remains, Heywood says the team has worked hard in the off-season to refine their offensive approach.
“Last year, our defence was really solid, and that underpinned our style of play,” he said.
“What we really tried to focus on this year is tweaking our offence to get the scoreboard ticking over in our favour. That’s really going to be our style this year–maintaining our defensive efforts from last season while playing a more exciting and free-flowing offensive game.”
Sunbury has also taken strides off the court, bringing in an external consultant to help define team values and set a strong foundation for success.
“We’ve done a lot of work off the court,” Heywood said.
“We put together a trademark and really set down some values that we want to display both off and on the court. It’s been a really positive pre-season.”
The Jets had a mixed start to their season.
They started with a big loss to the Hume City Broncos on Saturday, 114-64.
The Broncos led by 22 points at quarter time and then extended it throughout the game. Gladden top scored for the Jets with 13 points.
Sunbury bounced back on Sunday against the Bellarine Storm, winning 103-92.
Yorke-Frazer top scored with 38 points, while also having five rebounds and seven assists.
The Jets women lost their two matches to the Broncos and Storm.
