Merrick said on Tuesday he’ll confirm over the next two weeks the future of the fiery Irishman O’Donovan, who scored twice last weekend. 

“We do want to re-sign Roy, it’s just a case of getting him pinned down.

“Nothing has been resolved yet," Merrick said. 

As for recruitment to back up next season’s rebuild, the Jets boss remained tightlipped citing a wait and see approach.

He didn’t speculate on the futures of Daniel Georgievski and Ronny Vargas, with some talk Georgievski was off to Wanderers.

Meanwhile, Merrick revealed he didn’t want to throw too many youngsters in against Perth Glory, but last weekend was the start of the new season rebuild.

The Jets faced Premiership elect powerhouse Perth Glory away in Round 25 and narrowly lost.

But last weekend Merrick threw caution to the wind with a host of changes and a more cavalier approach.

And it worked, winning 6-1 over an experimental Roar at Suncorp in the Jets’ penultimate game of the 13th season of A-League football.

 

Joey Champness was electric last weekend for Jets

With no finals football for Newcastle, now is the time to start planning for Season 14, said Merrick on Tuesday.

“The surprise package in midfield was Gus [Thurgate]. He was tremendous alongside Steve Ugarkovic.

“And upfront Joey Champness was just terrific and Roy [O’Donovan] showed what he can do with good service.

“That was the start of the rebuild. I didn’t want to play too many youngsters against Perth.

“Away from home, top team, that can destroy confidence rather than build it.

“To me, it was a good start of a rebuild.

“It was a reflection of last year’s football [at the Jets]. And we probably could’ve scored a few more.”

The Jets face Sydney FC this weekend with the Sky Blues returning from a tough Tuesday night clash in Shanghai in the Asian Champions League.

Merrick vowed to bring more senior players into the Sydney game.

All-Whites keeper Glen Moss is likely to return, as is skipper and defensive lynchpin Nigel Boogaard.

“It’s a tougher team [I’ll select] but there’ll be still some youngsters in there.”

The Jets will remain in training for two weeks after this weekend, Merrick confirmed, with the players breaking up on May 10.