Jets set to retain Griffiths on fat deal

Premiers Newcastle are expected to announce the re-signing of the A-League's ace
striker Joel Griffiths on Friday.
Griffiths, 29, last season's leading goalscorer and league Best and Fairest winner
has scored 24 goals in 49 A-League appearances for the Jets.
It has been speculated that Griffiths, who has played for the Jets since the 2006-07
season, could earn up to one million dollars through a long-term contract as a
marquee signing.
Newcastle officials wouldn't comment on a media conference for an important
announcement called for Friday.
However coach Gary van Egmond acknowledged retaining Griffiths was key to the club's
future.
"He will provide a number of players who are coming off contract the mindset that
they would like to stay because all players want to stay with quality players and be
competitive year-in-year-out," van Egmond said.
"It also attracts other players to come to the club as well so it's a very important
signing and one I'm hopeful that can get done."
Van Egmond is also believed to be in discussions with the club about staying with
Newcastle beyond next season when his contract is set to expire.
Meanwhile, van Egmond was more concerned about his own side than worrying about the
team his Adelaide counterpart Aurelio Vidmar would choose for Saturday's clash at
Hindmarsh Stadium.
Last weekend, Vidmar made eight changes to his team following the midweek Asian
Champions League quarter-final first leg against Japan's Kashima Antlers.
Adelaide will be backing up just three days after their second-leg victory over
Kashima, but van Egmond didn't necessarily expect Vidmar to make wholesale changes
for Saturday's fixture.
"It's going to be a little bit of a different scenario with the fact that they don't
have to travel and they've won the tie and they will be on a high," van Egmond said.
"It depends what Viddy is going to do in regards to his squad, how he's going to
play it.
"He opted for a rotational system when he played Sydney, he may do the same, he may
not.
"We can't worry about that, we've got to worry about us."
Fifth-place Newcastle are one point and two positions behind Adelaide and van Egmond
said he expected a difficult game, no matter who Vidmar selected.
Van Egmond said Danish midfielder Jesper Hakansson was available again after missing
last week's win over Queensland with a head knock.
However, another import, Ecuadorian forward Edmundo Zura will miss Saturday's game
with a back problem.
"He (Zura) will start training again on Tuesday," said van Egmond, who expected Adam
Griffiths to be available despite missing training earlier in the week with a cork.
Van Egmond said he would love to keep former Melbourne Victory defender Daniel
Piorkowski beyond his current eight-match loan stint with the Jets.
"It will be nice to sign for a longer period of time, but I've got to get out there
and do the job and just show that I'm capable of playing at this level," Piorkowski
said.