Rob Stanton wants Newcastle's gutsy A-League Men come-from-behind win over Macarthur to serve as a statement of intent to the rest of the competition that the Jets are no longer happy to be pushovers.
Stanton's young squad claimed two goals courtesy of Eli Adams to snatch a 2-1 away victory in Campbelltown on Friday for their first win of the season.
At full-time, and after a skirmish between several Jets and Macarthur players and coaches had been broken up, Stanton gathered his players and staff in a huddle on the pitch.
An animated Stanton laid down the law, stressing how he wanted the backs-to-the-wall performance against Macarthur, to be a line in the sand for his youthful side.
"We're a young team and people try and bully them but we have worked hard to become mentally tough," Stanton said.
"We are standing up for ourselves and we won't take a backward step.
"We've worked hard to be aggressive and we won't be pushovers…I know people think we won't do much (this season).
"But we've worked hard in this pre-season and there's evidence to suggest that we are going to be a problem team for everyone."
The Jets boast an average age of 23, their oldest player is 29 and their economically-constructed roster has just one visa player in Brazilian forward Wellissol.
Adams, 22, is part of that youthful flavour and Stanton is hoping the guarantee of more gametime at the Jets can help give the former Central Coast and Melbourne Victory youngster a chance to fulfil his potential.
"There's talent there, I saw his talent and when he was Victory he had competition and those players tend to have other areas of their game," Stanton said.
"If he can bring that out in his game then he'll shine.
"He did a terrific job defending from the front, he was aggressive and got into challenges and that's not part of his game, but that lays the foundation for the good stuff."
The Jets are on a bye next week before an away trip to face Western Sydney, where Stanton hopes off-season recruit Lachlan Rose will be fit to play.
