After a tough off-season, Mitch Haddrill ensured his coaching career got away to a flying start on Saturday kicking two critical goals as the Northern Jets survived a huge fightback from The Rock-Yerong Creek at Victoria Park.
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Haddrill got a first-hand taste of the stresses of the job in his first match in charge when the Jets had to lift late, with the last four scoring shots, to win 14.14 (98) to 12.7 (79) after the Pies had levelled it up at 79-all.
"I'm absolutely stoked. I couldn't have asked for much more from the boys really. We went in there with a positive attitude and started well but we knew they were going to come back and it got a bit nerve wracking at the end," Haddrill said.
"I was thinking, 'Oh shit, we've given up a 40-point lead and I can already see what the paper's saying: we were up by 40 points and got beaten!'
"We got pretty nervous and they were on a roll but once we got a goal to break their momentum the game swung back our way."
It was Haddrill who broke the deadlock, kicking two goals after shifting forward in what might have been his first coaching masterstroke.
"Maybe I was the problem. When I was in the middle, we couldn't get it forward, but when I got out of there, it came straight in," he said.
After losing considerable depth in the off-season, the Jets got reward from their recruiting first up, with star signing Matt Wallis delivering four goals 48 hours after signing on, while unheralded acquisition, Harry Kimball, also kicked four, including the last of the game in the 19-point victory.
Their other signing, Haddrill's brother Len, was strong through the middle making the most of a towering effort from ruckman Matt Carroll whose performance Haddrill declared the pick in a strong team effort.
The Jets began brilliantly to lead by 35 points at the first break - although it might have been better given they kicked 6.6 - and by half-time the Magpies still hadn't put a dent in the margin.
But come the second half, they started to close, as forward Andy Carey (five goals) proved he's going to more than a handful again back at his old club.
The Pies dominated the third quarter to be just 15 points down before drawing level in the last only to run out of legs.
Haddrill was rapt not only in the effort but the achievement.
"They're a good team, they've got a lot of quality players and they came back fighting... I've been playing for about 10 years and I can count on one hand the wins we've had over there so it was very exciting," Haddrill said.
Skipper Jim Carroll led well for TRYC. Todd Hannam and Brian Cummins also had strong games.
The Pies head to Coleambally next week in search of their first win while the Jets know they'll have to go up a notch against a hot East Wagga-Kooringal.
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