Whatever Mark Milligan said to his A-League Men’s (ALM) charges at the interval, it worked.
Trailing 1-0 at the break – and appearing “flat” to most pundits in the grandstands, the Newcastle Jets responded in the best possible fashion to prevail 2-1 over the Western Sydney Wanderers at McDonald Jones Stadium on Saturday 7 March.
The result, thanks to goals from Eli Adams and defender Mark Natta, not only enabled them to maintain top spot on the congested ladder but it was the first time in 2025/26 the side had won when their rivals opening the scoring.
And, it highlights the resilience within the group this season under the Socceroos legend.
“It’s a credit to the team,” Adams said.
“We really stuck it out in that second half.
“I thought we played good football in the first, however that final ball just wasn’t clicking for us.
“We were also disappointed to concede the way we did.
“But, we’ve really come together these past few games where sides are trying hard to disrupt our style of play.
“People can see how we want to do that [play].
“We’re playing for the badge on the front and, by doing that, everyone’s starting to know the names on the back.”
Adams, who claimed Paramount’s man of the match honours, admitted the recent month had been a learning curve for Newcastle.
“We’ve had to adapt on the run,” he said.
“Teams are now coming to verse us… and they’re trying to unsettle our brand of football.
“So, the last few games, we’ve had to really dig in and compete.
“And, we’ve stuck together; we didn’t lose any of those matches.
“It shows a lot of character and a lot of growth from the side we were at the beginning of the season and the team we want to become.”
So, what was Milligan’s message to the troops during the break?
“He came in and gave us a stern word,” Adams explained.
“Millsy virtually stated that if we want to be a special team, we’ve got to do special things on the pitch.
“I think everyone saw that when we returned to the field.
“We came out and won every second ball, every 50-50, every duel.
“We fought, we competed… and we got the reward for that at the end of the day.”
The final words were left to Milligan.
“The biggest question I asked of the players [after last week] was about our performance, (not being) at the level that they set,” he stated.
“That’s why I’m so happy with the performance (today) and feel like it was one of the most complete performances.
“Because, at no point, did we go away.”
The Jets face Auckland FC at home on Saturday 14 March.
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