A lack of dominant forward targets inevitably cost Western Jets a shot at victory as they went down to Greater Western Victoria by eight points at the weekend.
While the Jets had 15 more forward 50 entries across the match, they lacked targets to make the most of that domination, fading late in the game to lose 11.5 (71)-9.9 (63).
Jets coach Torin Baker said that while there was plenty to be proud of in the game, the result was disappointing.
“In terms of the way we wanted to play the game, it was a good performance,” he said.
“Our clearance winning ability was good and the amount of ball we got forward of centre was where we wanted it. But we had some real issues with our forward entries and then having enough forwards that could do the job on the day … in the end we just couldn’t do the job.”
The game was an arm wrestle from the opening bounce, with Zak Butters’ early major cancelled out by the Rebels as the teams traded blows in the opener.
Neither side was able to stretch out beyond a 17-point lead all day.
The Rebels led midway through the second quarter, but the Jets hauled that in by the long break and established their own nine-point buffer by the final change.
Jets captain Nick Stuhldreier (34 disposals, 11 tackles) continued his strong start to the season with plenty of midfield presence across the game, while Connor Thar (28 disposals) was solid across half-forward and Josh Mould held down the defence with aplomb.
Unfortunately, the Rebels made better use of their final quarter chances, kicking 4.2 to the Jets’ 1.2 to take the win.
But Baker said his young side was on the right path.
“We’re playing a reasonable amount of bottom-aged players at the moment,” he said.
“With that in mind, the season is probably tracking where it should be.
“It’s just we’ve lost two games now where we had opportunities to win – maybe we should have pinched a couple more wins.
“We know we’re not a top three team – and we’ve lost three games to the top three – but I’m really pleased with the way the players are approaching every game.
“We feel we’ve been competitive for long times in every game. The effort is there, just not the results yet.”
