Australia NewsJoel: Time Is Ticking |
EXCLUSIVE: Joel Griffiths wants his Newcastle Jets future sorted now and warns he isn’t prepared to let the issue drag on long into the A-League season.
The Johnny Warren Medal winner insists that Newcastle is where he wants to be but admits he’d be lying if he said there was no other interest in him.The striker points to the experience of a former teammate and says he is anxious to avoid going through the same scenario.
Griffiths told au.fourfourtwo.com: “I want my future to be sorted sooner rather than later. It’s not something I want to see drag on and still have it hanging over my head later into the season.
“Newcastle is where I want to be and I suppose the club has first refusal. But I don’t want a situation like Bridgey (Mark Bridge) last season. That took a long time to be sorted and I think it affected him.
“I want my head to be clear during the season, with my future sorted and I can just concentrate on my football.
“I think the ball’s in the club’s court. Now it’s time for some serve and volley.”
As well as the issue of a new contract, Griffiths is also focusing on trying to battle back to full fitness. A nagging ankle injury that he picked up during his spell in Japan is still troubling him.
He said: “I’ve had a cortisone injection but I wouldn’t say it (the ankle) is great.
“Hopefully it will begin to settle down. At the moment I’d say I’m about 70 per cent and I want to make sure I’m 100 per cent for the start of the new season.
“It’s very frustrating but you have to make sure you don’t do too much before you’re ready to. The last thing I want to do is put myself in a situation where I’m back to square one.”
Contract and ankle issues aside, Griffiths is optimistic about the season ahead and happy with the new faces at the club.
He said: “We know people are going to be looking to knock us over but when you look at it we’ve still got the nucleus of the side won it (the A-League) last year.
“There’s some new faces as well and everyone’s looking forward to getting started. To achieve something in football is hard, to back it up is even harder and that’s what we have to do.”
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