Jetstream: Now is the time to build - Colin O'Reilly

Oct 27 2011

Colin O'Reilly

WELL that vital first win finally came and I’m sure that players, coaches and fans are all in full agreement that there was no better way to get it than a derby victory against Mersey Tigers in their own gym!

I’m a firm believer in taking victory any way possible and would have settled for a one-point win, fluked in the final seconds.

But as a matter of fact, the second half performance on the defensive end last Friday night should put an extra spring in everyone’s step as we look to keep improving.

That is what we’ve been working to improve and this now gives us a really firm platform to build on. 

It’s a commonly held view across the game that it is defence that wins championships, but there’s no denying that it is also pretty vital that you put the ball in the basket on a regular basis, especially against the top teams in the Championship.

Having found a nice defensive rhythm our next goal has to be to find a greater degree of cohesiveness among the players on the offensive end.

There is no doubt that going forward we become too static at times and don’t fully capitalise on our hard work at the other end of the court in defence.

This in my opinion seems to be costing us at least 10 to 15 points per game, which in the first few games we’ve played would have easily made the difference between winning and losing.

We are all well aware that the only way to fix this is hard work on the practice court and I can assure all Jets fans that’s something this team isn’t shy about.

As a team we are most definitely not satisfied with this sole victory – however satisfying it was on the night – and will be looking to push on from here.

Winning is a habit we really want to get into and it’s something we want the fans to experience with us week in week out.