(Thanks to Jay Buchan and the QT)
THE Ipswich Jets Reserve grade team finds its semi-finals prospects hanging by a thread heading into the final round this weekend.
The Jets are in fifth spot, one point ahead of Wynnum Manly.
Ipswich plays third-placed Norths on Sunday, after Wynnum Manly tackles fourth-placed Wests on Saturday.
If Ipswich wins, it is through to the finals.
Lose and it is out, unless Wests beat Wynnum Manly.
It sounds desperate, but by mid-season few would have thought the Jets stood any chance of getting this far.
At that stage they had two wins to their name and no coach.
The appointment of Todd Brown as coach sparked a run of five wins from their past eight matches and they go into the Norths clash full of confidence.
“They weren’t far off at that stage,” Brown said.
“It’s good to make it here but I never thought we wouldn’t.”
Brown insisted before the revival that a good attitude was all it took and he remains just as convinced.
“Just attitude,” he said. “They’re the same players they were.
“They’ve got the same game plan and the same training.”
Jets A-grade co-coach Shane Walker has no doubts Brown has made a big impact.
“He’s brought a lot of passion to the job,” Walker said.
“He’s a great fella who obviously knows his footy.
“He gives the players really good feedback and keeps it simple.
“It took us a while to get the right person but Brownie is definitely the man for the job.”
But Brown is not going to take credit for doing anything special.
“Obviously the players turned something around,” he said.
“I just focussed on the basics.
“It’s the simple things that win games.
“Our completion rates were high and our discipline let us down in the games we lost. Get those two things right and we’ve got the side on the field to win.”
Brown has no fears the pressure of a must-win game this weekend will have a negative affect on the team, which has become used to it.
“It’s been like this for the last two weeks,” he said.
“You’ve got no one to blame but yourself if you don’t win.
“Norths will be hard.
“We lost a close one to them in my first game (as coach). But we know ourselves we can match anyone.”