TOWERING shot-stopper Michael Weier made no secret of his desire to be the Newcastle Jets' first-choice keeper when he arrived at the A-League club.
After making his debut in March for an injured Jack Duncan, Weier went on to make six appearances last season.
It was enough to earn the 25-year-old former Hume City gloveman a two-year contract.
Completing a meteoric rise, Weier was given the nod for the season-opener and responded with an assured performance in the 2-1 win over Perth.
The spot is seemingly now his to lose.
"When I signed here I always had the aspiration to be the No.1," said Weier, who has bought a house in Woodberry. "Our keepers union - we work together, it doesn't matter who plays, we are a team. Whoever does play, we always get behind them.
"On a personal note, it is a good thing to have and I'll work hard towards keeping it."
Weier played down his effort against Perth, despite producing four saves and nearly getting a hand to an Aaron McEneff penalty.
"For me, when I make a save, that is my job done," he said. "There are always things to improve. I feel like I could have done better with the penalty.
"I expected Bruno Fornaroli would take the penalties, but he was off by then.
"I went the right way. There are little things I can adjust to maybe get there next time. It is a penalty and anything can happen."
The spot kick was one of only three shots Perth let fly from inside the penalty area.
"The boys kept the ball out of the box and made my life a lot easier," Weier said. "I told the boys at half-time that they were putting their bodies on the line and blocking shots.
"Defensive tactics are one thing. You can draw something up on a whiteboard and say this is what we have to do. It is also about your mentality and work rate for each other. It really showed that all the boys defend for each other. Our togetherness is second to none. It is a lot harder to score from 30 yards than it is from three."
Next for Weier and the Jets is a visit by Wellington Phoenix on Saturday.
"Wellington are top opposition," Weier said. "They are very much a counter attack team. We will probably have a fair bit of the ball. It is about stopping those breaks and not giving them an opportunity to attack us with an overload."
