THE Ipswich Jets Reserve grade side has all but booked its spot in the FOGS Cup semi-finals.
The fourth-placed Jets beat fifth-placed Wynnum Manly 36-16 yesterday to open up a five-point break over the Seagulls with three rounds to play.
“It was our grand final today,” Jets coach Todd Brown said.
“We’d spoken about it all week and before the game.
“We knew we needed a big effort.
“Defensively it was a good effort.”
The Seagulls were desperate, needing a win to retain hope of reaching the four team finals.
So for the Jets to produce such a comprehensive win indicates to Brown they are peaking at the right time.
“The last three weeks we’ve been improving, even though we lost twice to (competition leaders) Easts,” Brown said.
“We’re doing the basics right.
“We knocked Redcliffe off and should have beaten Norths.”
The Jets’ run into the finals includes matches against the top three.
But Brown goes in confident his team can make an impression as it has little to lose, starting with Norths at Nundah on Sunday.
“We need to keep working because we believe we’ve got a shot of winning it,” the coach said.
“We haven’t beaten Norths but got close.
“We just need to improve the little things.
“It’s about getting the simple things right, like attitude and enthusiasm.”
Last year the Jets were knocked out in the first round of finals and while Brown is keen to progress further this time, it is a different looking squad this season.
The Jets are being well led up front by their pair of big Macs, Matt McPhee and Billy McConachie, and in the halves by Chris Ash and skipper Kevin Bell.
Yesterday back rower Josh Seage earned man-of-the-match honours while the Jets called up Colts Ollie Olds (hooker) and Jake O’Doherty (prop).
The Colts and Queensland Cup side had byes so Brown was happy to use the talented youngsters, given his team has had its share of injuries to contend with.