A-League: Defenders Jordan Elsey, Matt Jurman central to Jets' success

It was one of the first boxes Papas ticked when he began the job of rebuilding the Jets roster.

Matt Jurman and Jordan Elsey are big, commanding central defenders.

Both have been part of championship-winning teams and are still in the prime of their careers.

Snapping at their heels are emerging stoppers Riley Warland and Mo Al-Taay,

All being well, the senior duo will be charged with marshalling the defence.

Although Jurman and Elsey have been on deck since the start of pre-season, the 6-3 win over Macarthur in a friendly last week was the first time they had teamed up together in a game.

"Early on, we got a good block into them together," Papas said. "Then they both missed a little period at different times.

"It was nice to see them get some continuity together.

"All successful teams have a very strong centreback pairing as a starting point. It is important that they are fit, they are healthy and learn how to play together."

Elsey, who won an FFA Cup and championship at Adelaide, sat out trials against Sydney and APIA Leichhardt with tightness in his calf.

"It was just a precaution," Elsey said. "I have never had a soft tissue injury in my career and it was just precautionary to make sure I didn't get anything like that.

"The work I had done before that, I knew the fitness levels were not going to drop off that much. I am flying and ready to go now."

Despite their lack of game time together, Elsey said a long pre-season had provided ample opportunity for he and Jurman to "bond".

"It was good to play next to him," Elsey said. "We have a great bond and I'm looking forward to exploring that during the season. The experience we have in the A-League, we know how the other plays. I have a good relationship with everyone on the pitch not just Matty. We are a big team, a big family and I'm looking forward to doing something special this year."

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Elsey has the utmost faith in the up-tempo, aggressive game employed by Papas and said there were positive signs against Macarthur.

"I truly believe the style that Arthur wants to implement is coming through," Elsey said. "We had a practice game against the Bulls last week and I saw some glimpses and felt some glimpses of what he wants to achieve with this team. It felt really good and I'm excited to be a part of it.

"We had only been playing internal games and NPL teams, so to do it against an A-League team - and a decent A-League team - it felt really good."

Although heading in the right direction, Elsey conceded there was a lot of improvement ahead.

In two modified hit outs against A-League teams they have leaked eight goals in 270 minutes.

"There are going to be individual errors during the season," said Elsey, who didn't feature in the 5-0 defeat to Sydney. "We all know that. It is the way we react to them.

"It is not like the teams were creating passages of play to get through our defence. It was just little, individual errors. They are going to happen in pre-season and early on in the season. It is about being focused and not letting them happen."

The Jets' first competitive test will be against Western United in a must-win FFA Cup qualifier in Geelong on Saturday night.

"I have had success in the cup at Adelaide," Elsey said. "It is a great competition to kick off the A-League season and get some momentum. It is a serious game for us and we are up for it."

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