New dad Jordan Elsey looks forward to Jets first-up challenge

"He is not going to be a centreback, centrebacks are boring," Elsey said. "I am going to make him a forward."

Elsey will go head to head with one of the best forwards in the A-League on Saturday when the Jets host a Bruno Fornaroli-led Perth Glory at McDonald Jones Stadium.

"Fornaroli is a top player. He has proved that over a lot of seasons in the A-League," Elsey said. "As I have said in the past, I love playing against the best players in the league. I want to test myself against the best.

"Having played in the league for a while, I'm looking forward to the challenge."

It will be the Jets' first hit-out after the season-opening F3 derby against the Mariners was washed out.

The A-League is yet to lock in a new date for the blockbuster, but it appears likely to be played in late December when both teams have a 10-day gap between games.

For now, the Jets' and Elsey's focus is on Perth Glory and getting the belated start to the campaign off on a winning note.

"It is the longest off-season in the world and then we miss round one," Elsey said. "It was out of our control, obviously. We went out for the warm-up, there was a bit of lightning and we were told to go inside.

"As much as we wanted to play that game - we love playing derbies - it was out of our control.

"Our focus is now on Saturday."

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Although they didn't take the field, Elsey was part of a new-look back four named by coach Arthur Papas against the Mariners. Mark Natta was to line up alongside Elsey in the heart of defence, with Carl Jenkinson on the right and James McGarry at left back.

Perth Glory conceded a late goal to go down 1-0 to Western Sydney Wanderers in their round one clash at Comm Bank Stadium on Sunday.

They have stayed on the eastern seaboard rather than travel back to Perth and are now in camp on the Central Coast.

"There are no similar teams in the A-League. Every week is different," Elsey said. "The coaching staff will go through what we need to look at.

"We are ready. We have had so long to work on things. All the boys are bonding really well. We just want to put it into practice in an actual game."

Elsey's wife gave birth to William last Tuesday and he said fatherhood had been "pretty smooth so far".

"Megan's mum is down helping out, which is good," Elsey said. "Nothing beats becoming a father. He came at the perfect time. We had a day off Wednesday so I could spend a day and half with him and then back to it.

"It was a crazy experience, but an experience that went well."