The Western Jets wilted in the stifling Brisbane heat in Saturday’s 28-point loss to Queensland in the TAC Cup.
For most of the Jets, the flight north was the first time they had travelled interstate for a game.
They were met by a supremely talented Queensland side and a hot and humid 29 °C day.
Jets coach Torin Baker admitted his players struggled with the conditions.
“I think Queensland’s running ability in those conditions was excellent,” he said. “Our boys were a bit cooked at certain stages.”
The Jets trailed by just a point at quarter-time.
Ten goals were evenly split between the two sides in a frenetic opening 30 minutes.
In the middle quarters, Queensland started to take control.
“Our midfield got beaten fairly comprehensively in the second quarter,” Baker said. “We just found we were defending a lot and didn’t have the energy to counteract the running we were having to do defensively.”
The Jets never gave up, with their fighting qualities coming to the fore late in the third quarter. What could have been a blow-out ended in a respectable 17.14 (116) – 14.4 (88) loss.
“Halfway through the third quarter, we started to arrest the momentum and were able to get a lot of forward entries,” Baker said. “It was pleasing to see we ran the game out well.”
When the Jets had their backs up against the wall, Cameron Rayner was one of the few midfielders to offer some resistance.
Brodie Romensky’s versatility was on show again as he played at a high standard in defence and through the midfield.
Harry Bult continues to build on his impressive resume and showed a lot of grit in locking down Queensland’s key forwards.
Daniel Venables and Nick Giarrizzo were dangerous in attack with three goals apiece, while Frank Campisi and Mickey Nicholls slotted two each.
Queensland showed it is getting stronger and poses a growing threat to visiting TAC Cup sides.
“I think it’s well known in footy circles that both the NSW and Queensland academies and the work done with their players from a young age is really starting to pay off,” Baker said. “You can see that with some of the players they’ve produced at AFL level.
“They’ve got some excellent top-end talent and overall some real good depth in their state team. We were playing a really talented team … a lot of our players were saying they have a respect for the level of talent they were playing against.
“At times we showed we were able to compete really well.”
The Jets will take on Dandenong Stingrays at Burbank Oval on Sunday.
