It's been viewed as a last throw of the dice from a desperate coach, but Hawks captain Tyler Harvey says he initiated his own move to the bench in an effort to ignite his side's campaign against Cairns last weekend.
Jackomas made the surprise move of shifting his skipper to the second unit for the first time since joining the club, the change bearing some early fruit but ultimately proving futile in a defeat that saw the axe fall on the coach.
Harvey went 5-17 from the field for his 12 points as the Hawks slumped to its second-lowest score for the campaign. It remains to be seen whether interim coach Justin Tatum continues with the experiment, but Harvey took ownership of the call on Wednesday.
"I texted [Jackomas] two days before the game and I said 'look, man, bring me off the bench if that's what needs to be done and you feel like that will help spark the team'," Harvey said.
"I have no ego, [I'll do] anything I can to help this team win. It was something that I vocalised to him and I told him before our trip 'I'll come off the bench, no problem'. I told JT (Justin Tatum) the same thing, I don't worry about that, I'll be fine and do what I can.
"I trust myself and my track record as a player to perform. Obviously [I've] had a couple rough games but I know who I am as a player, I know things are going to turn around. I'm just humble and want to do what I can to help our team win whatever that may be.
"I don't care about coming off the bench, starting, let's just win games."
"I don't really follow the opinions online, what people say," Harvey said.
"I stay off social media and everything throughout the year so I'm not attuned with much [debate] that goes on. It hurts because I'm so close to Jake and I've been with him throughout the Goorj years and everything like that.
"I've known Jake for four years so that's my guy and you feel bad when you hear news like that, obviously.
"It's been a whirlwind the past couple days to say the least, but I'm just trying to stay focused on this moment and trying to propel this thing forward.
"We don't have time to focus on other things besides winning basketball games. JT's been doing a great job with that and we're just trying to really lock in and put a few things in for the little time we have before we play on Sunday."
"I never think we're out of it," Harvey said.
"I think we have the group of guys that can go in here and do something special, and it's going to take something special to build, but it's not going to happen overnight.
"We have to stack great days little by little and JT understands that, he's relayed that message to us. He's been great, his passion is there. He believes in us as players and he's done a great job these last couple of days.
"I'm sure it's weird for him as well being put in that position. He's done a great job with that and we're here to rally behind him. We know it's not easy and we're going to do our part too."
The pair were touted as potentially the best one-two paring in the league in the preseason, with Tatum saying his goal is simply to remind them of that fact.
"You just let them know that we still believe in them and let them know that 'you are here for a reason'," Tatum said.
"It's just 'J-Rob, you are our floor general. You get downhill, you get guys passes and you're a really good on ball defender. Let's get back to those Virginia Tech days'.
"For Tyler 'you are an unbelievable shooter, we want you to take shots that we create for you. We don't need you to hunt or think that you've got to get us out or in a hole'.
"I just talk and be direct to those guys and let them understand what we're looking for them to do and give them better understanding [of their role] because we have 12 really good guys on here, not just two.
"Once we play like that, I think Tyler and J-Rob will start shooting better and just doing what they do well."
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Mitch Jennings
Sports writer. Sport is my passion, rugby league my first love.
Sports writer. Sport is my passion, rugby league my first love.
