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Newcastle Jets chief executive Lawrie McKinna has promised to take more pre-season games to Maitland after the A-League club was forced to cancel a trial against the Central Coast. The Jets were scheduled to take on their fierce rivals at Maitland Sportsground on September 28 in the final hit out of the pre-season. However, those plans were scuppered after the Jets were drawn to play the Mariners in Gosford in round two of the A-League - their first game of the new campaign after a bye in round one. The Jets will now finalise preparations against Melbourne City in Melbourne on October 5. "We were all set, but it was just too close to the game against the Mariners in the second round," McKinna said. "We did look at bringing in other teams, but it was tough to reschedule because everybody has to wait to see what happens with the FFA Cup before they can lock in games." The Jets have progressed to the quarter-finals of the FFA Cup, which will be played over two nights on September 17-18. The semi-finals are on October 1-2, with the final set down for October 23. The Jets will find out who they meet in the quarters after the round of 16 games are completed on Wednesday night. Maitland hosted the Mariners in the round of 32 of the Cup last month. That followed two pre-season friendlies featuring the Jets last year. "The relationship with the Maitland council is great and we will look to lock in a game up there next pre-season," McKinna said. "When we played the two games there last season the surface was first class." The Jets travel to the Gold Coast on Saturday ahead of games against Brisbane Roar and Perth Glory. They will be sporting a new look in Queensland after the club released the 2019-20 playing strips at a members' forum on Tuesday night. The home and away kits are almost identical to the ones used in the Asian Champions League qualifiers in February. A third black kit, with gold trim, was also unveiled. More than 200 members registered for the forum at the Newcastle United Sports Club in Adamstown. "It is an opportunity to give the members information and answer any questions," McKinna said. "We just want to be up front with where we are at and what is happening with the club." READ MORE: WHY ERNIE MERRICK HAS HIGH HOPES FOR JETS The Jets hope to match the 11,600 members they had last season, despite a rise of about 10 per cent in the price of season tickets. "There is a lot of positivity around with the arrival of our imports and the strong results in the FFA Cup," McKinna said. "I don't think we will start the season with 11,600 but it would be nice to be up around where we were last season." General admission season tickets start at $175 for adults and $130 concession, which remain the cheapest in the league. Junior memberships are $80. Perth have the dearest season tickets, starting at $335 followed by Melbourne City ($280), Sydney FC ($270) and Western Sydney ($270). Wellington and new club Western United start at $195. Apart from McKinna, A-League coach Ernie Merrick and W-League counterpart Craig Deans gave updates on their respective squads. Captain Nigel Boogaard and Irish import Wes Hoolahan were among five A-League squad members to attend and the W-League team was also represented. READ MORE: KIWI FINDS INSPIRATION IN BATTLE FOR JETS SPOT

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