The Newcastle Jets’ Young Socceroos representatives returned to Club training this week after their trip to Indonesia.
Hunter Ports Newcastle Jets goalkeeper Jack Duncan says he will benefit immensely from the time he spent with the Australian under 20-s at the AFC U-22 Championship Qualifiers in Indonesia earlier this month.
Duncan was one of four Jets players who were part of the Young Socceroos squad that contested the tournament. The others were Connor Chapman, Mitch Cooper and Joshua Brillante.
“It was good to go away and get straight into the intensity of competition games because your fitness has to adapt quite quickly,” Duncan said.
“You always learn new things when you-re away and you can transfer that into Club football with the Jets.”
Australia drew with Singapore and recorded wins over Indonesia, Macau and Timor Leste to finish second in their pool and qualify for next year-s Championships.
Their only loss came in their final group game against Japan where they were beaten 5-0.
“In the end we were able to qualify, but unfortunately we left it out of our own hands to qualify by losing our last game to Japan,” Duncan explained.
“We went there with a young team and I guess our goal was to qualify and that-s what we were able to do.”
Duncan said the opportunity to experience another country-s lifestyle and football culture was something that he learned a lot from.
“The conditions and the environment that you-re living and playing in over there are a lot different to what you-re used to so you have to adjust to that,” he said.
“At the same time you have to make sure your quality of football isn-t dropping off.
“With the quality of players you have around you, you-re always making sure you-re training at a high intensity and everything like that, so it-s always a good experience when you travel.”
