CRASH START FOR CASEY

[Demonland 73,265]

by KC from Casey

You could tell almost from the moment the teams ran out onto the Trevor Barker Beach Road Oval yesterday that it was going to be a hard day at the office for new Casey coach Peter German.

His Scorpions included no less than five first gamers and no more than three AFL senior list players and a handful of Demon rookies. Lined up against them was an impressive array of experienced St. Kilda listed players (9 senior and 4 rookie listed players) and hardened VFL premiership players including multiple Frosty Miller Medallist Nick Sautner, skipper Peter Summers, Andy Biddlecombe, David Gallagher and Rod Crowe.

It really was a case of the men against the boys as German's Scopions crash started at Sandringham.

The home side piled on the first six goals of the game before a rare foray forward resulted in a goal to Russell Robertson. Captain Kyle Matthews snaffled another but the Zebras were well in control in the middle and regained the ascendancy with three more goals to make it nine for the opening quarter and a lead of 43 points as the teams went into the huddle for the first time.

Sandringham retained its dominance through the second quarter to keep its iron grip on the game with a massive lead of 52 points at the main break.

As if things weren't already bad enough for Casey, the Scorpions lost their best defender in Alex Silvagni during the second term with what looked like a bad rib injury. James Wall, Addam Maric and Matthews were all working hard and newcomer Pierce Liddle was finding space and doing some nice things on debut but there was little they could do to stem the tide. The now rampant Zebras were full of confidence as they pushed to a 93 point lead at three quarter time.

In the final quarter the team rallied for a while with a brilliant angle goal to Matthews followed by another to newcomer Ben MaCreadie but Sandy was finishing strongly and kept up the pressure. Liam Jurrah took a nice mark and kicked his second goal but at the other end Sautner was proving dominant and his eighth goal, kicked on the final siren, gave the home side a 103 point victory.

Despite the crushing loss, Casey will gain some satisfaction from the performance of its new boys and will improve as it regains some AFL players due to return from injury in the coming weeks and the young team gains familiarity and begins to play with more cohesion. In the meantime, the team has a tough task next week pitted against first round winners Port Melbourne on Saturday night under lights at Casey Fields. The seniors game starts at 7pm.

HOW THE DEMONS FARED

Liam Jurrah - kicked 2 goals and showed some nice marking touch but was too often caught behind. While it is clear that he has a number of tricks in his football kit bag, there's a lot he still has to learn about the game - in particular he needs to apply himself as much when he doesn't have the football as he does when he's in possession. This is something he would not have had to worry about in an environment where there's so much less pressure inCentral Australia and even in the NTFL but he will need to learn about it as he takes a crack at the big time.

Jordie McKenzie - showed some nice attributes, noticeably quick hands, but was often lost as the Sandy midfield surged ahead and he made a few mistakes. Will learn.

Addam Maric - had a busy day roaming far and wide to get kicks and often received close attention which, while it made life hard for him on the day, will hold him in good stead in the coming weeks as he makes the transition back to AFL football. Really, on yesterday's performances, Maric is the only realistic possibility of promotion from the Melbourne contingent in this game.

Russell Robertson - kicked a goal and took a hard knock early but had little assistance in terms of quality delivery from further downfield (nor should he expect it if and when he returns to the Demons) and was often double teamed and generally struggled. The good news is that he continued to receive good game time.

Jake Spencer - beaten in the ruck and around the ground but worked hard all day. Definitely showed some signs of promise for a 203cm big man but he's on a very long learning curve.

Shane Valenti - had a tough initiation as a Casey player against his old club and looked flat early as he struggled to keep up with the pace and to shrug off his tags. To his credit, he worked his way back

into the game in the second half to finish among his team's best players.

Trent Zomer - one of three Casey defenders given the task of trying to curb Nick Sautner. All three failed.

Casey Scorpions 2.3.15 4.5.29 4.10.34 8.15.63

Sandringham 9.4.58 12.9.81 19.13.127 25.16.166

Goals

Casey Scorpions Jurrah Matthews 2 Liddle MaCreadie Robertson Wall

Sandringham Sautner 8 Lynch 3 Crowe Eddy Heyne 2 Begley Clarke Fisher Gallagher Gilchrist McEvoy Summers Tregear

Best

Casey Scorpions Maric Valenti Matthews Wall Matheson MaCreadie

Sandringham Sautner Miles Paterakis Armitage McEvoy

Casey Scorpions reserves toiled manfully after a slow start and went down by 28 points to Sandringham. Tom McNamara led the defence well while 194cm De La Salle recruit Matt Moore booted five goals at full forward.

Casey Scorpions 1.2.8 7.4.46 11.7.73 15.12.102

Sandringham 4.5.29 8.10.58 14.14.98 19.16.130

Goals

Casey Scorpion s Moore 5 Collins Vernon 2 Bolton Crespin McNamara Mildren Sykes Virtue

Sandringham Eddy Waller 4 Harektuku 3 Johnston Jones Stanley 2 Connors Ferraro

Best

Casey Scorpions McNamara Patti Virtue Vernon Panozza Healey

Sandringham Stanley Simpkin Waller McGarry Dean Harektuku

HOW THE DEMONS FARED

Rhys Healey - in only his second game after a lay off with a back injury, he showed out with poise and balance.

Daniel Hughes - playing his first VFL game since 2007, Hughes saw out his allocated half a game and took some nice marks. Also turned over the ball a couple of times but will hopefully get better as he regains touch.

Tom McNamara - another player returning from injury, McNamara played a half last week and built on that performance yesterday. Defended solidly and went forward to kick a nice goal.

James Strauss - a hesitant start for Strauss in his first hit out after suffering an ankle injury during the pre season.

Matthew Whelan - played about half a game and appeared to be limping when seen walking to the rooms at the end of the game. We'll see how he pulls up in the next day or so.