Ipswich set to build early pressure
IPSWICH will aim to strike early against the Pride in a bid to build scoreboard pressure in a contest between two teams desperate to get a roll on in 2017.
Jets co-coach Ben Walker said it had been a challenging start to the season against five of the top six teams in the competition – their only win coming in Round 1 against lastplaced Tweed Heads.
He said the lack of wins on the table was not a fair reflection of the quality football Ipswich had played in past month, feeling his side had just “run out of time” to mount a charge to victory in the past five weeks.
“We’ve been playing really good footy, we just haven’t been getting the two points. if we keep doing what we’re doing we know we’ll do enough to win games,” Walker said.
“It’s a tough place to play up there and the Pride are a quality team so we absolutely know we’ll have to be at our best to have a chance.”
The Jets lead the competition in offloads with 25 per game.
“It’s something we work on, but 20 is way too low for what we would like,” Walker said.
Matthew Gibuma, who was signed to the Jets from Innisfail in the off-season, could not win a spot to play at “home” but impressed on his debut against Sunshine Coast Falcons in Round 4.
Walker said speedsters Gibuma and Sig Manu Wigness, the latter who joined the club from Badu Island, were not far away from the club’s top 17.
— JACOB GRAMS