Dutch midfielder Jorrit Hendrix spoke to the media on Thursday on settling in quickly to life in Western Sydney and what he expects from Newcastle Jets in the club’s first away match of the season.
The talented midfielder signed with the Red & Black in mid-September and is playing in Australia for the first time in his career after a prolific career in Europe.
It has been a positive start to life in the West for Hendrix who has quickly accustomed to the weather and physical style of play of football in Australia.
“My first impressions of Australian football were quite good,” said Hendrix.
“The weather is something different, so it’s now nice that I have adapted to the jet flag and the time difference.
“The first two weeks of pre-season was physically hard but from the start all the players and staff have helped me with everything so that I could settle in very quick.”
On the field, Hendrix has already anchored his place in the Wanderers midfield and has had a 100% tackle success rate in his first two A-Leagues games for the club.
The Wanderers are set to play in their first away match of the Isuzu UTE A-League Men season on Sunday against the Jets and head into the match after a historic result against Western United.
Hendrix and his teammates led the Wanderers to a comprehensive 5-0 win with the midfielder providing an assist to Captain Marcelo for the fifth goal in the fixture.
With the bar set high for a similar result in their next clash, Hendrix believes the result will all come down to the hard work the team has been putting in at training.
“We have to fight and work hard to achieve these results every game,” said Hendrix.
“People expect high things from us and we expect that from ourselves too.”
With three valuable points on the line, Hendrix and the Wanderers are expecting an intense battle in the Jets’ first fixture at McDonald Jones Stadium this season.
“We faced them in the pre-season, in one of the last games before the season started, and they played quite well against us,” revealed Hendrix.
“Especially in the first half they played with high pressure and high intensity.
“This will be their first home game of the season, in front of their own fans, so we expect a high pressure team who will fight for a result at their home.”
The match will be broadcast live and FREE on 10 BOLD. Tune into all the action on Sunday 5 November at 3:00pm.
