"For us to get a result tonight, it was like a win in many ways when you consider those five players were missing and the fact that was our third game in seven days," Culina said.

"Don't forget we played two days ago and five players were missing, if you look at Jobe Wheelhouse, Michael Bridges, Jeremy Brockie, Marko Jesic and Ben Kantarovski.

"We didn't (get to have many runs as a team) this week. Players were still sore from Wednesday.

"We had to travel back on Thursday and we got back here in the afternoon and with all the new ownership we had meetings there so the players didn't even have a proper chance to have a day off."

The Jets were the better side in a frantic first half that saw the ball moved from end to end as both sides tried to gain the ascendency in attack.

Newcastle midfielder Ruben Zadkovich went closest to scoring in the opening period when he struck the crossbar with a wicked shot from 35 yards, while the Victory were restricted to shooting from long range.

The second half was a different story as the Victory peppered the Jets goal with Carlos Hernandez twice shooting over from inside the box while Brazilian striker Rocardinho looked likely to grab the winner when he shot from 15 yards out directly in front only to see Jets goalkeeper Ben Kennedy pull off a great reflex save.

"It was also going to be the first half for us - that was the game plan," Culina said of his side's tactics.

"Particularly out wide we felt that if there is a weak point with Melbourne that it is out wide and we did that. We attacked and we knew if we score we could do it.

"The last thing that we wanted to happen was for them to score early because in our situation with tiredness and where we are our heads would have dropped. So it was important for us to attack from the start."

Culina said his side is playing without luck but again praised the fortitude of the team to earn a point in a difficult match for the Newcastle side.

"The bounce of the ball isn't going our way," he said.

"We have hit the posts twice against Perth and again against Brisbane and Ruben's shot could have easily slid underneath the crossbar but it didn't. Then we had to hold on and in the end there were a lot of players doing it tough."

Jets defender Ljubo Milicevic stated that a positive to come out of the match was the Jets defence.

"We probably have the best record in the league at the moment and that is a testament to the work we did pre-season, as a team we just need to improve offensively," he said.

"Championships are won when their built on defences so that is something to be positive about.

"Once we start scoring a few goals, we will get on a roll because not many teams can break us down."

The Jets, who are ninth, have played eight games, scoring four goals but conceding only five.

Newcastle's next match is not until October 16 away to Brisbane Roar.