To the Newcastle Jets it could feel like control is lost as the COVID pandemic wreaks havoc on the A-League. But it depends which way you look at their situation.
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The Jets are aiming for a finals return this season and, although they have had three of their past four games postponed, destiny remains well and truly in their hands.
They just need to play
Newcastle have already performed better in five appearances this season than they could across 12 in the past two campaigns, when they finished with just seven points.
Before the weekend, the Jets were positioned fifth with eight points from five games and undefeated in their past four outings. They have played the least amount of games of any of the 10 A-League Women's sides and only lost to runaway leaders Sydney (15).
The competition entered the second half of the 14-round season over the weekend, when Newcastle were scheduled to play Brisbane (seven points) only to have the match postponed due to several Roar players contracting COVID.
It means the Jets must now catch up three games between round nine this weekend and the final round on March 4 - nine games in five weeks. They are scheduled to play Canberra United, who are ninth on just two points, in a Jets double-header at McDonald Jones Stadium on Sunday.
Leading into Newcastle's round-eight clash with Brisbane, Jets coach Ash Wilson described the fixture and the Canberra one as "massively important" to their top-four hopes.
"You don't know what's going to happen in the draw below you and you want to make sure you control what you do," Wilson said.
That was before news broke Friday afternoon that another one of their games had been postponed, less than 24 hours before they were set to fly to Brisbane.
While conceding the uncertain nature of the league due to COVID's impact was proving frustrating, Wilson said extra preparation time could benefit the Jets.
Newcastle came from behind to draw 1-1 with Perth at No.2 Sportsground on January 16 in their first match for over three weeks. It was also the first match since more than half of the squad had contracted COVID in the new year.
"If you try to find some positives in this whole situation, we definitely had some girls who were a little bit more affected than others and this week the training has been quite good," Wilson said on Friday.
"You can see lots of improvements in their lung functions and the intensity that they're training at. We've seen them recover quite well and another week just gives them more time to adapt and more time to stress that respiratory system and have it be able to adapt to train and play at those levels as well."
The extra week will also be of benefit for long-serving Jets left-back and co-captain Gema Simon, who is yet to play this season due to a calf complaint. But the former Matilda was back in full training last week and the Jets will need all hands on deck for the busy period ahead.