Farrer League
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FIRST year Northern Jets coach Stu Hutchins believes the first month of the Farrer League season will give him the perfect gauge of how his team matches up against the competition.
The Jets have one of the toughest run of games to open their 2014 campaign.
They kicked it off in stellar fashion with a 44-point win over The Rock-Yerong Creek last week and will take on Temora, North Wagga and then EWK in the coming rounds.
"You look at our first four games and we've got The Rock, Temora North Wagga and East Wagga which are all pretty tough," Hutchins said.
"If we can come out of the first four games OK it should set us up nicely for the season."
It was an impressive first-up performance from a relatively young Jets outfit against TRYC last week and Hutchins plans to take the same line-up into tomorrow's meet with the Kangaroos.
Temora fought out a tough 20-point win over North Wagga in round one and have the option of bringing Sam Fisher and Zeik Johnston back from suspension, as well as Mark Breust from illness.
"If we can come out of the first four games OK it should set us up nicely for the season."
- Stu Hutchins
The Jets scored a shock win to beat the Roos in round one last year after catching their opponent off guard.
Hutchins knows his players can't afford to rest on their laurels.
"We beat them last year but then we weren't so lucky in round two," he said.
"Temora is a good side, fairly big and they are pretty well structured.
"Most of their blokes have been playing together for a lot of years and we know it will take a solid four-quarter effort to beat them again."
It was a six-goal haul to Temora recruit Matt Wallis which kicked Temora over the line against North Wagga.
Hutchins hasn't yet decided who will get the job on any specific Kangaroos players but will put faith in his troops to get the job done.
"I'm confident in our back six," he said.
"It's been basically the same for the past few years and they do a pretty good job."
The Jets will have some added motivation when they run onto Ariah Park tomorrow.
The club is celebrating 10 years since its amalgamation and Hutchins said all players were looking forward to stepping out in front of a big home crowd.