Jaffas prepare for year ahead

If you believe in history repeating itself then you may like the odds of the Grand Final winners in 2014 and 2017 getting the job done again in 2020.

Lambton Jaffas have been one of the top teams in the NPL era but preparation for this season has thrown a few curve balls at coach James Pascoe, but the Jaffas mentor is up for the challenge. One of the biggest challengers has been finding a decent surface to train on. Arthur Edden Oval has been hit by a bug which has left parts of the field patchy. Whilst the task of getting their home base up to scratch will take time, the other task for Pascoe is getting his new recruits to gel with the current squad and improve on last season.

“We’ve gotta become a team first and what I mean by that is that we’ve been able to recruit five or six good quality players but we’ve also lost five or six from last year, so it’s a case of getting people in and getting rhythm and understanding what our football is all about” Pascoe said.

Some of those new name are familiar to the Jaffas colours with Riley McNaughton and Kale Bradbery returning after a number years at rival clubs. McNaughton and Bradbery will be joined by Scott Pettit from Olympic, as well as last years NPL player of the year Mitch Oxborrow from Broadmeadow and former A-League and Socceroo Matt Thompson from Maitland.

On paper the Jaffas are one of the strongest sides in 2020 but captain Michael Sessions is not getting too carried away. “ We do have a lot of new players coming in and there’s a lot of experience there, but we need to spends some time on the field together with only 180 minutes of football on the field so far, so there’s plenty more work to do, so see how we go” Sessions said.

With Arthur Edden Oval not available, the Jaffas will move their round 1 home fixture against Broadmeadow to No2 Sports Ground. “I’ve never played there and from watching the W-League games, the field looks in great nick and it’s a good stadium with a flat deck so it should suit our style well” Sessions added.

The Jaffas will play a few more mid-week trials before their blockbuster Round 1 clash with Broadmeadow on Saturday March 21.

Gains: Mitch Oxborrow (Broadmeadow), Kale Bradbery (Broadmeadow), Matt Thompson (Maitland), Riley McNaughton (Charlestown City), Scott Pettit (Olympic).

Loses: Braeydn Crowley (Maitland), James Pendrigh (Canterbury United NZ) Brock Messenger (Hamilton Wanderers NZ), Josh Sutton (travel) Liam Odell (work)