IF THERE is one player who polarises supporter sentiment at Newcastle Jets more than any other, it is Jobe Wheelhouse.

Attending Sunday’s fixture against Sydney FC – pad and pen in hand – my mission was to try and highlight that Wheelhouse isn’t as bad as some of his detractors would have you believe. Fortunately for me, Wheelhouse largely proved that himself, putting in probably his best shift in his 35 game A-League career.

Playing statistician, I documented Wheelhouse’s ball distribution – an area some people view to be wayward. I also took note of other aspects of his game such as tackles and fouls, and unexpectedly had to draw up another column when he hit the back of the net in the 11th minute for his first A-League goal.

Admittedly, I was somewhat distracted by the Squadron’s heavy abuse of Mark Bridge, so I might have missed a pass here or a tackle there, but I think I got Wheelhouse’s figures pretty right.

Overall, Wheelhouse received the ball over 40 times in the match, completing passes at a rate of around 75 percent. Whilst this number was bolstered by a few safe option balls back to North or Griffiths in defence, he also worked himself out of numerous tricky situations, spraying precision balls with accomplished vision around the park.

Another facet of Wheelhouse’s game that impressed me was his work rate and commitment. Whilst I’ve no figures to complement this, efforts such as his marauding run down the right flank to cross for James Holland’s shot in the first half typified his work ethic throughout the match. I scribbled at half time that he seemed to have been everywhere.

One of the reasons the Jets aren’t higher up the ladder is the fact they haven’t had players chipping in with goals from midfield. Wheelhouse’s strike was pure quality and was indeed indicative of the type of goals or at least efforts on goal we need to be producing.

Keeping his head, Wheelhouse had enough smarts to realise an accurate side-footed shot was a better option than a powerful, potentially wild swing, placing the bobbling ball beautifully into the bottom corner of the net.

According to Newcastle Herald's James Gardiner: “If you ask Crooky (Ian Crook), he’s the best finisher in the club.” Hopefully we’ll see more of this.

While most fans have reacted positively to Wheelhouse’s strong showing (clichés like “credit where credit’s due” are noticeable adages on the supporter forum at the moment), yesterday's brilliant showing aside, I still believe some criticisms have been slightly unwarranted.

Broadly, has he been any worse than any other Jets player in the dour performances of the year? I can remember him actually gaining acclaim as the Jets best from commentator Mike Cockerill when we were disappointingly beaten 2-0 at Hindmarsh in Round Six.

He was also condemned for allowing Matt Simon to skip past him to set up Dylan Macallister’s winner for the Mariners at Bluetongue Stadium in Round Nine, but so too at fault for that goal were Jade North and Mark Milligan.

Put bluntly, Wheelhouse is never going to be the superstar drawcard of a Joel Griffiths or [insert name of speculative marquee signing here], but more performances like that will quickly turn this Novocastrian into a fan favourite.

Largely, news of Wheelhouse’s two-year contract extension was met with disapproval, but perhaps we are starting to see the fruits of Gary van Egmond’s belief in the former Toronto-Awaba Stag.

Dollar for dollar, pound for pound, Wheelhouse could even develop into one of the bargains of the A-League.