2012 NWPL Weekend Preview: Jets hoping to claim first wins at home
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Brazil's Jonas Crivella in action for Adelaide (pic by Anthony Pearse/Pearse Photography)
Although being anchored towards the bottom of the table, the Fyfe Adelaide Jets have embraced the start to the 2012 National Water Polo League season, unveiling their new home at the South Australian Aquatic and Leisure Centre (SAALC) and welcoming players from New Zealand, Brazil and Great Britain into the men’s team.
This weekend they host the Hunter Hurricanes, and after a tough home series against the might of the Brisbane Barracudas, the Jets will be looking to get their campaign back on track with their first wins in Adelaide this year.
The Adelaide women have recorded two wins from six matches after securing a double header victory over the Drummoyne Devils, and will be confident of a further two wins on the back of the attacking prowess of Australian 18 & under representative Chloe Barr (9 goals) and Lucinda Swan (8 goals).
The men are yet to post a win having gone down in a nail biting penalty shootout to Cronulla in the opening match, but have indicated a victory is not far away courtesy of the added value shown by imports Jonas Crivella, Josh Potaka and Alex Murphy.
Head coach Eddie Denis said despite the tough start, the club was looking forward to developing their young players throughout the season and believed the move to the new aquatic centre and the addition Crivella, Potaka and Murphy had been advantageous.
“We have very young sides, particularly in the men, so the aim is to grow these players this year,” Denis said.
“While the away start was tough I thought it gave us a chance to kick into gear and show us the standard we need to be at.”
“Going back to the SAALC last week and this week has been great. It’s always good to play in our home pool. It’s a fantastic venue, we receive great support and hopefully we can get our first wins there.
“For the girls, this season we are hoping to be around the middle of the table, and we want to show that we can compete strongly.
“The guys’ team is a little tougher, as our oldest home grown player is only 21, but our imports have worked in great and have added to the learning opportunities of our inexperienced players.”
Crivella, who was part of the Brazilian national team during the Water Polo Pan Pacs in Melbourne earlier this year, has the highest goal total by any import in 2012 with 16, followed Victoria’s Scott Carpenter (GB) on 14.
Meanwhile, in other fixtures, Aussie Stingers captain Kate Gynther is set to play her 150th game for the Brisbane Barracudas in their clash with the UNSW Killer Whales this Sunday.
The Barracudas women have only dropped one game in 2012 and will be looking to mount the pressure on undefeated leaders, the Cronulla Sharks.
The Victorian Tigers will also see one of their players notch a milestone with Elise Rosato playing her 150th game against the Hunter Hurricanes on Friday.
The Tigers women have had a tough opening to the season with a road trip to the west, before a tough home series against the reigning champions the Barracudas, and will look to consolidate their current fourth place position with two wins over Hunter.
Week three officially starts today with the first of the Victoria versus Hunter matches in Melbourne, before UWA Torpedoes take on the Cronulla Sharks and KFC Queensland Breakers host the Magpies and Killer Whales.
Other marquee clashes this weekend include the women’s top of the table fixture between the Longmont Fremantle Marlins and the Cronulla Sharks and the Sydney derbies involving Balmain, Drummoyne and Sydney University.
Fans are sure to also be interested in the Brisbane Barracudas and UNSW Wests Magpies match which features no fewer than six Aussie Sharks players, including Rhys Howden, Billy Miller, Anthony Martin, Joel Dennerley, Richie Campbell and Johnno Cotterill.
For the full list of results and fixtures go to http://bit.ly/zeVYdV
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