AS if they weren't dealing with enough uncertainty, the Newcastle Jets are now waiting to learn if they will start the A-League season, as scheduled, against arch rivals Central Coast in Gosford on New Year's Eve.
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The untimely outbreak of coronavirus in Sydney has cast a shadow over the A-League and W-League season kick-offs and multiple games look set to be postponed. There are five A-League teams - Sydney FC, Western Sydney, Macarthur FC, Central Coast and the Wollongong-based Wellington Phoenix - in the co-called "hot spot" areas, all of whom face issues in relation to crossing interstate borders.
Postponements appear a distinct possibility. Even if games are able to proceed, crowd numbers are expected to be reduced.
"We have 218 games to play in the next six months and our plan is to deliver all of those games," A-League boss Greg O'Rourke said in a statement. "Where games are impacted by border closures, we will postpone those matches to be played at the earliest opportunity.
"We are closely tracking and reviewing government guidance, and building our plans to ensure that we have the flexibility to respond dynamically to any guidance changes."
The last thing the Jets would appear to need is another distraction, after an off-season dominated by speculation surrounding the club ownership, parlayed into the hasty departures of coaching staff and key players.
On Saturday, Newcastle suffered another apparent setback when they were beaten 4-3 by Wellington in their final trial against A-League opposition, at McDonald Jones Stadium.
The Phoenix led 3-0 at half-time before Newcastle hit back with goals from Valentino Yuel, Steven Ugarkovic and triallist Tete Yengi after the break.
"Any time you let in three goals in the first half, it's not good enough," Jets coach Craig Deans said.
"It was disappointing, because their goals came from our mistakes.
"I suppose the positive thing was the character we showed to win the second half 3-1.
"Some teams in a situation like that might have ended up letting in five or six goals, but to their credit, the boys kept going and they performed a lot better in the second half."
The expected return of defender Johnny Koutroumbis and midfielder Ramy Najjarine, who missed Saturday's hit-out because of minor injuries, will boost Newcastle's squad for the season-opener.
Experienced Ben Kantarovski, however, remains sidelined indefinitely with a calf problem.
"We wanted to win the game to give us a bit of momentum heading into the season, so obviously we'll need to be better than that in round one," Deans said.
"We need to respond to that. I don't think anybody is accepting it."
Veteran Ali Abbas, hoping to earn another contract with the Jets, played two-thirds of Saturday's game in midfield.
"He was probably a bit more involved in the other trials, but we know he's up to A-League standard," Deans said.
"We wouldn't have brought him in if we had any doubt about that.
"He's a good guy to have around, Ali. We know that from when he previously played for the Jets.
"We'll sit down and have a conversation next week."
