It was a bold move by an ambitious teenager hell-bent on becoming a professional footballer.

The left wingback, who hails from the South Coast town of Merimbula, made his A-League debut in July.

Now the 19-year-old has signed his first senior contract.

In a boost ahead of the home double-header on Sunday, Mauragis has inked a two-year deal with the Jets - continuing the club's move to lock up their best young players.

"Lucas came up here on his own to have a crack at getting into the youth team," Deans said. "He put everything on the line.

"At A-League level, he still has a long way to go in terms of effectiveness and understanding the tactics of the game.

"His attitude and work ethic is really, really good. Not every player understands at this level it is almost more about how hard you are prepared to push yourself than how much talent you have got. Lucas is a good example of that. He has talent but his attitude to do everything he possibly can to be a footballer is exceptional."

After playing twice off the bench last season, Mauragis has added eight appearances this campaign.

A left-footer, he has been deployed as a left wingback and winger and has filled similar roles on the right side.

"He has some flexibility which is good for a young player," Deans said.

"As with all young players, when an opportunity comes, no matter what position, you have to be ready to take it. Down the track, I imagine his position will be as a fullback."

Mauragis' upgrade from a scholarship to a senior deal, follows contract extensions for fellow young guns Connor O'Toole and Angus Thurgate. Blake Archbold and Archie Goodwin, teenagers who both made their A-League debuts this season, have inked scholarship deals.

The move to sign up young talent is the first step in Deans' recruitment process.

"We need to have a plan about recruitment and a strategy on where we are going with the team," Deans said. "It is something we probably haven't done well in the past. The first part of that is re-signing the younger players who are going to form the core of the group.

"We need to make sure we have a good core of 15 to 16 local and young players. Then hopefully we can add some quality around that core group."

The Jets are coming off three straight losses and on Sunday take on an Adelaide outfit, who have won four straight to move to second place on 19 points. A 2-1 triumph over Newcastle at Coopers Stadium a fortnight ago was the third of those victories. The return match against the Jets is the second game of a double-header. Brisbane meet Wellington in the first game.

"Adelaide have gone on a good run lately. We played them two weeks ago and gave away two goals," Deans lamented. "We are not far off the team who is coming second and that was away from home.

"When we get home, we need to be more aggressive in the game - get on top early and not take our foot off the gas.

"We have been giving away some cheap goals and end need to stop doing that first.

"The league changes very quickly. We are in 11th place on 11 points and the team in fourth is on 16 points. It is very tight and it will probably be that way until the end of the season.

"There is no time to drop your head and feel sorry for yourself. With a couple of wins you can change things around."

The next assignment for Mauragis is to win a starting berth ahead of incumbent left wingback Connor O'Toole.

"The next step for him is to make it impossible for me not to pick him," Deans said. "He has a battle on his hands with Connor, who also has a lot of improvement in him.

"It is a good challenge for Lucas to try and he get past Connor. And it's a good challenge for Connor to make sure he stays ahead of Lucas. That is what you want in your team - people pushing each other.

"Wingback is a big position in the formation that we play. We need them to be delivering balls into the box at the right time and with quality. We have been lacking that in the past couple of weeks."

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