FITTER. Faster. Stronger.
After a mini pre-season in which the Jets broke "just about every GPS metric available" coach Arthur Papas says they are ready for take two of the A-League.
And what a way to start.
The Jets take on fierce rivals the Mariners in an F3 derby at Central Coast Stadium on Sunday.
The A-League was put on hold for four weeks for the group stage of the World Cup.
The Jets, however, were anything but idle.
Papas and his staff pushed the players to the limit, physically and mentally, in a bid to hit the ground running.
The training block started with a five-day camp in Tamworth, featured regular double sessions and three friendly games against A-League opposition.
"We are ready," Papas said. "We are ready for this game. We are ready for the league to restart and, hopefully, we have a really good crack at the championship.
"To be able to play the way we want to play, physically we need to be very robust. Our numbers have been through the roof. We have broken just about every GPS metric that is available to us in terms of conditioning. Hats off to the players and staff for working really hard to give us an opportunity to put our best foot forward."
The Jets, after opening the season with consecutive wins, have dropped three games on the bounce.
The Mariners, boosted by the return of Socceroos Garang Kuol, Jason Cummings and Danny Vukovic, sit in fifth spot on seven points, one point above the Jets.
Melbourne City top the table on 16 points, but only two points separates fourth-placed Macarthur from the Jets in 10th.
The Jets and Mariners have a game in hand.
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