Northern Jets bounce back with 53-point win over East Wagga-Kooringal.

The Jets booted nine goals to one after half-time to enjoy their first win at Gumly Oval in five years, prevailing 11.12 (78) to 3.7 (25).

The Jets had two weeks to dwell on a close defeat to The Rock-Yerong Creek and showed some early signs of rust after the bye as the Hawks restricted them to just two goals to half-time.

EWK only kicked two as well, but the signs were ominous for the home team given the visitors had six more scoring shots.

The Jets were able to break the game open with five unanswered goals in the third quarter and finished the job off in the final term.

Northern Jets coach Jack Harper was happy with the response from his team after half-time.

"Obviously happy to get the win, we just had a frustrating first half, that was the annoying part," Harper said.

"We dominated the possession of the footy, we just couldn't execute and move it as freely as we would have liked. But once we got into the second half, things really opened up for us and our running game, we got that going, and we broke it apart, which was nice."

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Harper said the Jets begun to work harder for each other in the second half.

"We probably started playing for each other a bit more," he said.

"I reckon in the first half we were a little bit selfish and credit to East Wagga, they brought the pressure.

"It was a little bit hard to get the footy away cleanly. The second half, we all of a sudden started working for each other and our work rate went through the roof, things started to click and we started to play the Jets brand of footy that we like to see."

Jeromy Lucas was best-on-ground with a dynamic performance through the midfield and he also went forward to kick two goals.

Ryan Cox was not far behind, providing plenty of run through the midfield, while Jack Fisher, Mitch Haddrill and Lenny Haddrill were also good on-ball.

Nate and Mitch Doyle performed strong jobs in defence, while Harry Roscarel gave the Jets plenty of spark.

The Jets avoided any serious injury but Chris Bell pulled up sore and was going to miss next week's Coleambally trip anyway, while full-forward Matt Wallis, who kicked three goals, finished the game on the bench after hitting the ground hard in the final term.

With the Hawks win the first of a three-game stretch for the Jets before a qualifying final showdown with Marrar, Harper was pleased to get back to winning ways.

"Obviously the last time we played The Rock, it was a frustrating finish to the game, we were playing catch up footy, which was annoying and towards the back end, it probably felt like we were going to run over the top of them, we just ran out of time," he said.

"To bounce back today and beat East Wagga at East Wagga is always no easy beat, so I'm pretty happy with how the boys responded."

In the process, the Jets claimed the Greg Smith Shield for just the third time since 2010. It is played for in the second meeting of the two clubs during the home and away season.

For the Hawks, the loss continued an average run of form and they now find themselves needing to beat either Charles Sturt University next week or TRYC in the final round to cement their finals spot.

EWK captain Luke Cuthbert led by example with a strong game, while Jarrod Turner and Hayden Nelson were two of the Hawks' better players.

Full-time

Northern Jets 1.4 2.7 7.9 11.12 (78)

EWK Hawks 1.1 2.1 2.3 3.7 (25)

GOALS: Northern Jets Seniors: M.Wallis 3, J.Lucas 2, B.McKinnon 2, J.Fisher 1, R.Cox 1, C.Bell 1, H.Roscarel 1; EWK Hawks: B.Argus 2, C.McPherson 1

BEST: Northern Jets: R.Cox, M.Haddrill, J.Lucas, H.Gaynor, H.Grinter, B.McKinnon; EWK Hawks: L.Cuthbert, N.Curran, B.Argus, J.Turner, H.Nelson, J.Tiernan

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