This weekend the Jets face off against fierce rival the Mariners in the first F3 Derby of the new season…
This weekend the Newcastle Jets face off against fierce rival the Central Coast Mariners in the first F3 Derby of the new season.
The rivalry only continues to build and Sunday-s game at Ausgrid Stadium will be the 24th time the two sides have met.
Throughout those encounters, a historical Jets moment is perhaps made sweeter given it was against the Mariners; winning the Championship in 2008.
From that game the sole remaining player from that starting XI is Tarek Elrich and he is just one player looking forward to the next installment this Sunday.
“The F3 derby has been going around for about seven years now so we are looking forward to Sunday,” Elrich said.
“It is a derby and it doesn-t have to be pretty. It is always a bit fierce, we need to get stuck in and hopefully we can put in a good performance.
“We let down our 10,000 plus members last weekend and we need to go out there this week and do whatever we have to do to get a result.
“Hopefully all our members will be there Sunday making a lot of noise and helping get us get over the line against the Mariners.”
Captain Jobe Wheelhouse also weighs in about this rivalry with the Central Coast Mariners.
“The F3 derby is one of the biggest games of the year,” Wheelhouse said.
“The Mariners are a physical side and I don-t think they have been playing their best football either so they will be up for it this Sunday and we need to ready to combat that.
“The crowd is our 12th man and after our great crowd at the first game, we want our Members and fans to get out there and support us again.”
Midfielder Kasey Wehrman believes the rivalry with the Mariners will be a great way to bounce back after last weekend’s loss to Wellington.
“There is no motivation required given we are playing the Mariners,” Wehrman said.
“But motivation is they have beaten us a lot of times and they are a team we have struggled against.
“We need aggression and effort this weekend.”
The Mariners are just ahead on the head-to-head ledger; winning eight games to the Jets- seven. On eight occasions the game has ended in a draw.
The results favour the Jets when they meet at Ausgrid Stadium; Jets winning five games, the Mariners three and on three other occasions it have been a draw.
Continuing that winning record at Ausgrid Stadium is the intention this Sunday, and equal the overall head-to-head ledger in the process.
Join in the rivalry debate on twitter this week, use the hashtags #f3derby, #HALjetsccm and #goJets.
