Reduced to 10 men after defender Jordan Elsey was sent off, Georgian international Beka Mikeltadze struck in injury time to jag a 2-1 win and three much-welcomed competition points.

The result was in stark contrast to last season, when the Jets scored the third-most goals in the A-League, only to finish 10 points adrift of the play-offs.

"We played some good football last season and scored some goals, but at key moments we let ourselves down with our mentality and mindset," Thurgate told the Newcastle Herald.

"We have to be willing to dig deep and kill games off.

"We've done a fair bit in the pre-season on that, and we're really looking forward to grinding out more results, like we did on the weekend."

The Jets are determined to make it two wins from as many starts when they host Wellington Phoenix at McDonald Jones Stadium on Saturday.

"It was a nice way to start the season," Thurgate said of last week's win.

"We showed some great character, but it's only round one, and we're looking to follow up again this weekend with another good performance and hopefully a win.

"We're extremely confident that, with the squad that's been put together, we can have a good year.

"I think we showed a lot of togetherness and courage last weekend, but there's stuff we need to improve on."

Last week's game attracted a crowd of 7089, Newcastle's largest home attendance in more than two COVID-interrupted years.

Thurgate knows from past experience how quickly the bandwagon can fill up, if the Jets are winning games.

"My first season at the club was in 2017-18, when we made the grand final," he said.

"The buzz around the town then was great, and the crowds towards the end of the season were unbelievable. We know that if we keep putting in performances that Newcastle is proud of, and getting results, that the crowds will get behind us."

A capacity crowd of 29,410 attended the 2017-18 decider, but Newcastle have not featured in the play-offs since - an anomaly Thurgate is eager to address.

"I'm closing in on 100 [A-League] games but I'm yet to play in a final," Thurgate said.

"So that's definitely keeping me motivated.

"But I'm sure that if we can keep playing the way we want to play and keep our mentality strong, we'll be playing in the finals."