Mason Campbell will skipper the Newcastle Jets youth team as they look to make it six from six against Edgeworth on Sunday.
Defender Mason Campbell will captain the Newcastle Jets youth team as they looking to continue their NBN State League winning streak against the Edgeworth Eagles at Jack McLaughlan Oval on Sunday.
Campbell led the team in their 3-1 come from behind win over Hamilton Olympic last weekend.
The central defender will assume the role again this Sunday after regular skipper Jack Duncan was diagnosed with glandular fever and ruled out of action for 3-4 weeks.
The Jets currently sit three points clear at the top of the ladder with five wins from as many matches and the flawless start to the season has even surprised Campbell.
“I thought we-d get outmuscled a little more this early in the season, but I guess our technical skills have come through a little bit which is nice to see and the boys are really enjoying it,” Campbell explained
“A few of us have played at this level before or played in the first team so it was OK, but for the younger guys I think they-ve stepped up really well.
With the first team guys like Jacob (Pepper) and Connor (Chapman) coming back and training with us full time, it-s helped the boys step up.”
Campbell said he was enjoying having a leadership role in the team.
“It-s something that I-ve pushed myself to try and get at some point during the year,” he said.
“I knew the coaching staff was going to rotate (the captaincy) and to get a chance to do it this early in the season is something I-m really happy with.”
Campbell has a played a key role in marshalling the Jets defence which is currently the best in the league having only conceded four goals so far this season.
However the 19-year-old said he still felt the Jets- defence had room for improvement.
“We-re really happy with the defence, but the few goals that we have conceded have been pretty sloppy so we can always improve that and tighten up,” Campbell said.
“We-re getting better each week though, so I think we-ll get harder to score against as the season goes on.”
Edgeworth are yet to win a game so far this season and sit in second-last place on the ladder, but Campbell was adamant there would be no complacency shown by the Jets to their opponents.
“It won-t matter that they haven-t had a win yet, they did the same thing last year and made the top four,” Campbell said.
“They-ll be really hungry and they have some top quality players so it will be a really tough test.”
Match Details:
NBN Northern NSW State League
Newcastle Jets v Edgeworth Eagles
Jack McLaughlan Oval, Edgeworth
Sunday, May 13
Kick-off 2:45pm
