East Wagga-Kooringal open the Matt Hard era with 23-point win over Northern Jets

Faced with the Northern Jets first up at Ariah Park, EWK did their best to leave little to chance, kicking five goals in the opening quarter to set up an 11.10 (76) to 8.5 (53) victory.

In tough conditions, a 23-point lead at quarter-time proved a match-winning one. The visitors survived a Jets’ revival in the second half, to eventually finish in front by that same margin. 

“I just thought it was a good, rounded, team performance,” Hard said. “They all chipped in and played their role. It wasn’t the perfect day of footy but I was happy with the style of footy we played.

“To our boys’ credit, they started really well. And we knew the Jets would get back into it so it was good to hold our nerve and to come away with the win. I thought our first half was good, we got our hands on the footy a bit. But it was hard to take too much out of it. It was blowing an absolute gale.”

The Jets weren’t helped by an injury to key man Alex Rogers early, but the Hawks also didn’t have everything their own way – on the wrong side of the free kick count.

But with Ben Absolum and Chris Gordon leading the way, and Luke Cuthbert strong across half-back, they maintained control in the second quarter, to lead by 31 points at half-time. 

Mitch Haddrill inspired the Jets’ fightback in the third quarter, when they kicked four goals to one and early in the last they’d closed to within a kick. 

But EWK weren’t about to falter, and finished the game off strongly. Jarrod Turner (four goals) and Brocke Argus (three) did the damage up front. 

Trent Garner had a powerful game at the back, keeping Mick Foster on a tight rein, Scott Burge was also good on a wing while newcomer Harry Fitzsimmons was impressive and Nic Curran and Joe Banks also slotted in well.

Hard wasn’t carried away with the performance but was more than pleased with the way they went about locking up a crucial early four points. 

“I really thought, considering the conditions, the boys adapted well to the way we wanted to play,” he said. “It wasn’t great all day but there were definitely positive signs that they’re taking on board what we want to do.”

The Jets, who have the bye to recoup next week, were best served by Haddrill and ruckman Matt Carroll, while new midfielder Codan Frankel also caught the eye. Foster (two goals) was their only multiple goal scorer.