Gary van Egmond today confirmed Michael Bridges, Taylor Regan and Ben Kennedy will start whilst ruling out Jobe Wheelhouse.
Coach Gary van Egmond confirmed a number of changes to the Jets line-up this week following the teams final training session at Ausgrid Stadium on Friday.
Michael Bridges and Taylor Regan have both earned a spot in the starting eleven, whilst Ben Kennedy will keep his spot in goals.
“I thought Bridgey was excellent in the second half against Wellington,” van Egmond said.
“He brings a lot of creativity to that area, he can score goals and can hold the ball up.
“Taylor-s starting spot is long overdue for him and he has been very patient.
“Nikolai (Topor-Stanley) by his own admission didn-t have his best game last weekend so we have decided to go with Tiago (Calvano) and Taylor down back for this game.
“Ben Kennedy will start and (Matthew) Nashy will be on the bench; we want that area to be competitive and for Nashy and Jack (Duncan) to keep pushing Ben.”
Jets captain Jobe Wheelhouse will miss his second consecutive game due to an unknown virus which has hospitalised him this week.
“Jobe hasn-t been able to respond to medicine so he won-t be in the squad this week,” the coach added.
“It is clearing up but it is taking longer than we thought, so we will monitor that and play it by ear for the Gold Coast game.”
Calvano, who captained the team last weekend when Wheelhouse was suspended, will retain the captain-s armband.
“Tiago is an easy decision as captain because of his leadership qualities, the way he coaches on the field, the way he conducts himself at training and the respect the players have for him,” van Egmond said.
The Jets welcome back midfielder Kasey Wehrman, after he was rested from last weekend-s game with the Jets scheduled three games in the next week.
“Kasey is a winner and leads from the front,” van Egmond said, “It will be good to have him back in the midfield.”
