OVO AWL | Jets on high alert for Torpedoes in round 3

Published Thu 14 Feb 2019

OVO Australian Waterpolo League round three will get underway tomorrow with a women’s grand final rematch between Sydney Uni Lions and UNSW Wests Killer Whales sure to toss up a fiesty contest.

The round will see eight teams competing across three days with all eyes will be focused on the South Australian Aquatic and Leisure Centre when FYFE Adelaide Jets host UWA Torpedoes in the OVO Play match of the week.

The FYFE Adelaide Jets women were able to complete a pre-season trial match against Queensland Thunder with a vast majority of their players in Brisbane during January for the 2019 Australian Youth Water Polo Championships.

As captain of the Jets’ women’s side Jessica Martin believes the trial matches have been vital for the team in their new campaign.

“We feel better prepared than previous seasons, our fitness is solid and with a very young side we have been focused on getting everyone on the same page in the lead up to round one.

“The trial against Thunder was a fantastic opportunity for our players to experience high intensity matches before the opening round, because we often take a few games to get back into the swing of things for OVO AWL,” she said.

With a young women's squad lining up for the Jets they are backing their local juniors in for their 2019 OVO AWL pursuits.

“We have had a few debutants including Tahlia Scipioni, Maddie Lambert, Nicolette Miller and Sarah Fleming who have all brought a lot of energy and positivity to us.

“They are all really diverse and bring a great mix in terms of position to our team. In round one we demanded a lot from them and they stepped up to it which was great to see,” said Martin.

In a testament to water polo development in the region their debutants have come through the ranks and competed in Brisbane before making the transition into Australia’s national water polo league.

Martin says Jets are bracing themselves for their two duels with Torpedoes over the weekend.

“It’s always interesting playing a double header, it’s often all about trying to understand the opponents in the first half of the first game.

“Typically Torpedoes are fast and fit and really physical, the best thing we can do is be strong with our possession of the ball so we don't give away silly turnovers which give them easy counter attacks,” said Martin.

Jets will be cautious with the many dangerous players the Torpedoes have in their side.

“Dayna O’Leary is one of their stronger players and scored a lot of goals last weekend [seven goals across four matches].

“They usually have a few solid imports as well, I am not sure who they are this year, but it will be a matter of getting in the water and figuring them out as quickly as we can,” she said.

Both the Jets men’s and women’s teams are searching for their first wins of the seasons and are urging local fans to get down to South Australia Leisure and Aquatic Centre and boost their home pool advantage.

Coming off a Sydney road trip which encompassed six games in six days, UWA Torpedoes men’s captain Nick Hughes says the team is used to the demand of travel early in the season.

“The last couple of years we have had a very similar start to the season, it builds a lot of fitness early on I wouldn’t say it’s a massive disadvantage because everyone has to play away at some stage” he said.

Speaking about the wave of young talent coming through their ranks Hughes knows their young guns are a great weapon and the Sydney trip only benefitted their development.

“We’ve got a lot of young blokes coming through, like Lewis Putt, Matthew Oberman, Byron Kelly, Matt Murphey who have come through their national aged championships and now are in the national league. Hopefully we can help them take their game to the next level," said Hughes.

After a tough draw and narrow win against Jets in 2018 and with back to back fixtures coming up this weekend, Hughes is wary of what the Adelaide based side will throw at them.

“I think they have been improving over the last few years, they’ve kept a lot of their players and have added a few really good imports too.

“They have an excellent goalkeeper and it will be a challenging weekend for us so it will be a completely different game to what it was last year.

“I think we’ve changed a bit and they’ve changed a bit, but hopefully we can go over there and really play some good water polo and get some results,” he said.

Hughes is leading from the front with 15 individual goals in the seasons so far, with great support from teammate Devon Thumwood who is also in hot goal scoring form in front of goals with 14 of his own.

In other matches, it will be a big weekend for the Hunter Hurricanes as they host two strong Drummoyne Devils sides for their first matches this season in Newcastle Harbour at Queens Wharf on Saturday - to purchase VIP tickets click here.

Back in Sydney UNSW Wests will notch up another home game when they welcome ACU Cronulla Sharks to UNSW Fitness and Aquatic Centre on Sunday.