That was five of their top eight players and they didn’t have the depth to cover their absence, especially in the forwards, as the Temara brothers, Daniels and McKinlay were all the Jets’ big men. McKinlay dislocated his knee and Shane Temara badly sprained his ankle in the first-round game against the Saints. Temara’s appendix later burst and he required two operations. He should be out of hospital in the next week. Coach Tim McTamney bemoaned the injury toll. “The schedule to start the season really hurt us. We came right and started playing very well. Then of course that Saints game – two major injuries in the first half and after that an injury every week from then.
There was a good crowd, but there was little atmosphere until the final quarter, when the Jets were rallying. Like a week ago, when they came from behind to beat the Mountain Airs, the Jets looked good to start the game, but let Southland take the lead, and it wasn’t until the second half before the Jets attempted a fightback. Southland had led 59-49 and when they were up 73-56 at the start of the second half, it looked ominous for the Jets. Manawatū guard Daishon Knight sparked a revival and they closed the game to four points in the fourth quarter, with Southland leading 79-75, but Southland’s Brayden Inger iced a three to kill the Jets’ momentum.
Jets coach Tim McTamney said they didn’t cope well with four games in eight days, so he was glad to be back playing at home and following their normal training schedule. “We re pretty excited about playing at home for the first time. In a way, this is our season starting for the second time. It was an awkward eight days. “Trying to acclimate players who have just arrived, play a doubleheader, have a disrupted practice schedule because you’re training and travelling, then to back it up with a doubleheader was probably a bridge too far for us.” He was hopeful of getting a big crowd and for Manawatū fans to get behind the team.
Coach Tim McTamney said the first two games showed the difficulty of integrating their two new imports, Daishon Knight and DeAndre Daniels, who have only been out of isolation for just over a week, but they would continue to get better. “In some ways getting wins on the road is a bonus. I felt we had a good opportunity to get two at the weekend, they were both pretty close. “It’s disappointing we didn’t get at least one of them. They were there for the taking.” He said it was important for new players to learn the way the Jets played and it was hard to do that on the fly.