LIBBY Copus-Brown reckons "not much changes around Newcastle", except perhaps for the quality of players around her at the Jets.
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After three years in transit, which included a stint with Western Sydney Wanderers and a season in England with second-tier outfit Lewes, the midfielder has returned to the club with whom she made her A-League Women's debut as a 16-year-old.
And already she likes what she sees.
After a season-opening 1-0 win against Central Coast Mariners last weekend, Copus-Brown is supremely confident the Jets are on the rise, saying this is "definitely" the best Newcastle squad in which she has played.
"We've got some big-name players, the likes of Melina Ayres and Alex Huynh, and it's definitely looking like we're going to have a good season," she said.
"Obviously we want to be in the finals, but we take it week-by-week, because if we look too far ahead, we could get distracted."
While an away win was a positive result to kick off the season, the 25-year-old said there was plenty of room for improvement, starting with Sunday's clash against Perth Glory at HBF Park.
"It was definitely a good start," she said. "It was a scrappy game, but I think you could say we wanted it more than they did.
"Sometimes that's going to get us over the line, so I'm proud of the first game ... at the end of the day it was a derby, and it was us who wanted it more."
Central defender Huynh, a key off-season signing from Macarthur Rams, will miss the trip west after collecting two yellow cards against the Mariners, which resulted in an automatic suspension.
With Gema Simon also unavailable through injury, Young Matildas representative Zoe Karipidis is expected to come into the team.
The has returned to the club with which she made her A-League debut as a 16-year-old , so it's kind of nice to have similarities coming back after few years away," she said.
