Ipswich Jets v Norths Devils at North Ipswich Reserve on Saturday, June 10 – 3pm
By Michael Nunn
Ipswich Jets
1. Wes Conlon 2. Michael Purcell 3. Ben White 4. Nemani Valekapa 5. Richard Pandia 6. Chris Ash 7. Dane Phillips (c) 22. Tyson Lofipo 9. Luke Capewell 10. Nat Neale 8. Mitch Carpenter 12. Seb Pandia 11. Sam Martin 13. Marion Seve 15. Lachlan Roe 16. Huskie Teatau 21. Jesse Roberts 14. Rory Humphreys 17. Nathan Gaulton
Coach: Ben Walker and Shane Walker
Norths Devils
1. Delouise Hoeter 2. Michael Lucas 3. Matthew Grieve 4. Luke Pollock 5. Javarn White 6. Chris Sandow 7. Todd Murphy 8. Francis Molo 9. Billy Brittain (c) 10. James Taylor 11. Jai Arrow 12. Matiu Love-Henry 13. Dalton Phillips 14. Danny Kerr 15. Mattais Heimuli 16. Michael Molo 17. David Faamita
Coach: Mark Gliddon
LAST TIME THEY CLASHED:
NORTHS DEVILS 32 (Delouise Hoeter, Dane Chang, Luke Pollock, Michael Lucas, Francis Molo tries; Todd Murphy 6 goals) def IPSWICH JETS 10 (Nathaniel Neale, Tyson Lofipo tries; Wesley Conlon goal) at Bishop Park.
Overall Record:
Head to Head: Norths 24 Ipswich 16 Drawn 2
ROUND 14
The Jets take on the Devils this week, for the second time this season. The Jets lost 32-10 in round three at Bishop Park.
The Jets will need to overcome a not too flattering record against Norths with Norths leading the Jets 24-16 with two draws.
Norths have won eleven and the Jets 8 at the North Ipswich Reserve; including a draw. Norths have also won 3 of the last 5 games at the Jets’ home.
The last time the Jets played Norths at the North Ipswich Reserve was round 1 2016 and the Jets won 38-24.
The Devils lost 40-18 to the Hunters while the Jets are coming off a loss to the Falcons 36-16.
The Devils and Jets are both currently on 12 points.
The Devils have scored 32 more points than the Jets this season and in defence let in 44 less. That’s advantage Devils in attack and defence.
DEVILS
The Devils tried to tackle the Hunters and found out the hard way that is a difficult task.
The Hunters only need some ball to have an impact, they put 40 points on the Devils missing a similar amount of tackle and having 49% of the ball.
The Devils had 10 more runs than the Hunters but made 143 less meters as well as 7 less line-breaks.
DEVILS TO WATCH
Jai Arrow:
Jai played the full 80 minutes against the Hunters, and made charge after charge into the unforgiving defence of the Hunters. He topped the meters gained and the runs for the Devils. Arrow doesn’t provide anything too fancy but he does takes tough runs that really who would want to take.
Billy Brittain:
Brittain is a smart hooker. He seems to pick the right time to run and right to time to let the ball go. Last round he made 39 tackles and didn’t miss one. That’s a big workload in the middle he is handling.
Chris Sandow:
Sandow is a bit of a mystery, unsure what you will get or when you will get it. Last round he controlled the Devils’ kicking game and did all the kicking for territory. The Jets will need to put pressure on him. He is also a considerable target in defence, he missed five tackles against the Hunters who gave him plenty of work to do.
JETS
The Jets did it mostly right against the Falcons until the last 15 minutes. The Falcons made 8 line breaks to 3. The Falcons ran 230 more metres. The Jets made 62 more tackles.
The 9-4 penalty count against the Jets just mounted pressure and in the last quarter of the game it all came unstuck.
JETS TO WATCH
Nat Neale
I am struggling for adjectives to use to describe Nat Neale so I’ll just let numbers tell the story.
80 minutes
1 try
10 runs
82m
1 line break
5 tackle breaks
2 offloads
59 tackles
0 missed tackles
I can’t add much more to that.
Lachlan Roe:
I love watching Roe play, it’s like watching a really big kid on the oval just pushing away the other kids in his grade. He made a huge run in the first half against the Falcons that just made the Falcons look tiny. 142 metres, 11 hit ups, one line break and five tackle breaks. But in the middle he holds the defence with zero missed tackles.
Sam Martin:
Sam is providing plenty of enthusiasm and his defence against the Falcons was strong with 21 tackles in his 48 minutes. Martin just does any role the side needs and that’s what I love about watching him. Martin will need to overcome a chicken wing tackle to be able to play this week.
The Jets need to relax and not force the issue. They did it tough against the Falcons and had no worries rucking it out of their end time and time again but then they would try and score after all that hard work and it would go to ground. The Jets are at their best when it is natural and they just take the chances as they present. Not try and make the chances right there and now.