SCORPIONS RULE AT WINDY BOX HILL

[Demonland 70,250]

SCORPIONS RULE AT WINDY BOX HILL by K C from Casey

The Casey Scorpions shrugged off the loss of players to injury, illness and AFL promotion to record a significant victory at Box Hill City Oval on Saturday.

Casey had first use of the tricky breeze and dominated from the outset with former Demon skipper Brad Green providing great drive and Liam Jurrah proving elusive and a difficult customer to handle.

The Casey listed players were also out to prove a point after they were shunned by VFL selectors for the forthcoming representative match against Tasmania. Luke Tynan continued to show improvement with a great four quarter effort to finish with 24 disposals and he was particularly impressive in the early going. Rian McGough and Matt Fieldsend chipped in with the game's first two goals as the visitors opened up a 12 point lead at the first break.

The home side came back strongly in the early stages of the second term but both teams were off target and the game was sinking into a lacklustre contest of defences until the experience of Lynden Dunn and the class of Jurrah and Jack Watts pressed home the advantage in favour of the Scorpions.

With Tynan, Sam Blease and Dan Nicholson opening up the game with good running, the team piled on the next three unanswered goals to go into the sheds having doubled their lead during the quarter.

The Scorpions were now unstoppable and they simply dominated the "premiership quarter" with five goals to nil in a great team performance that saw some of the young unsung members of the team come to the fore. Names such as Mitch Gent, Ricky Plummer and last year’s reserves best and fairest Tynan are not well known at present in VFL circles but they continued to contribute in the shadow of the bigger names in the side.

The Demons also look to have uncovered some talent for the future in Rory Taggert (26 disposals) and defenders Troy Davis and Jai Sheahan who were solid all day.

With the game well and truly won by the final break, Box Hill broke through for some goals early in the final term but coach Brett Lovett would have to be pleased with the persistence of his players who re-established their ascendency late in the game to run out easy winners by 52 points. He must also be delighted with the improvement of his own VFL listed players who stood up in the absence of injured players such as co-captain Kyle Matthews and Wade Lees as well as the way in which they are gelling with their AFL counterparts, a few of who would surely have earned a trip to Sydney for the coming weekend.

Casey goes into the bye in second place and with the interstate game to follow does not play again until June although an intraclub practice match is being mooted to ensure the momentum of the past weeks can be retained.

HOW THE DEMONS FARED

Sam Blease - great pace and attack on the football. His defensive efforts were much better this week.

Lucas Cook - played well in flashes only but he was not helped by the swirly winds.

Troy Davis - a solid effort deep in defence where he displayed all the necessary desperation and skills.

Lynden Dunn - won a lot of the ball (27 disposals) and was reasonably effective with his marking, kicking and ball movement in general. Put his hand up.

Brad Green - too much class for this company and if his fitness holds up should be back in the big time next week.

Liam Jurrah - was in good touch early and is clearly ready to return to the AFL at long last.

Kelvin Lawrence - working harder and longer during the course of each game.

Joel Macdonald - solid and unobtrusive but will find it difficult to win a promotion.

Stefan Martin - has overcome a hip problem and did some very nice things during the game including nailing a nice pass for a goal with finesse.

Daniel Nicholson - plenty of run and carry with good pace but lets himself down from time to time with poor disposal. Kicked 0.4.

Jai Sheahan - despite the conditions which would not usually suit someone of his height, Sheahan continues to put in solid dependable performances in defence that belie the fact that he is a rookie listed player.

Jake Spencer - he's slow and not particularly well co-ordinated but plugs away and works hard. Still on the comeback trail so hard to be too critical.

Rory Taggert - a fantastic effort from the youngster who missed much of the pre season and several early games with a back injury. Showed good skills and endeavour, kicked a couple of goals and surprised with his class.

Luke Tapscott - a strong display. Showed out with good disposal.

Jack Watts - at this stage of his career he is not a crash and bash artist and won't be until he puts on more weight. However, playing on a wing, he was simply too classy for the opposition and most of his 25 possessions hit their mark.

Casey Scorpions 2.5.15 5.10.40 10.14.74 13.19.97

Box Hill Hawks 0.5.5 1.10.16 1.14.20 5.15.45

Goals

Casey Scorpions Fieldsend Taggert 2 Blease Cook Gent Jurrah McGough Martin Riseley Tapscott Watts

Box Hill Hawks Hughes 2 McCauley Wanganeen

Best

Casey Scorpions L Tynan Taggert Davis Plummer Fieldsend Nicholson

Box Hill Hawks Murphy Mirra Pattison Hughes Jones Bruce

2012 AFL Vic Development League

Casey Scorpions 3.6.24 5.9.39 10.15.75 14.18.102

Port Melbourne 0.4.4 3.9.27 5.11.41 7.13.55

Goals

Casey Scorpions Smith 5 Cleven Page Petropoulos 2 Collins Clay Johnson

Port Melbourne Bond Francis Jawad Morris O'Sullivan Sutcliffe Teasdale

Best

Casey Scorpions Pollard Lang Collins Patti Page Allen

Port Melbourne Johnston McCarthy Sutcliffe Thornton Williams Collopy

The Casey Development League team does have a game next week - an away fixture on Sunday at 11am against Frankston.

[Junior 46]

Really enjoyed this match. Will have to get out to a game soon.

Loved Blease's run, it's a matter of time before he dominates a game for Casey. Hopefully soon.

[Guest José Mourinho]

I can see Taggert becoming like Sewell for us.

[olisik 4,060]

I can see Taggert becoming like Sewell for us.

I can see him being in and out of injuries and struggling to recover from one until he gets another for the first 2 years of his career like most other MFC recruits.

then i can see a bunch of threads about who we couldve taken instead, then the arguments about injuries being his fault, badluck, overtrained, then eventually his name on the list of players to de-list at the end of the season coz he wasnt what most people expected when he was drafted.

[Guest José Mourinho]

I can see him being in and out of injuries and struggling to recover from one until he gets another for the first 2 years of his career like most other MFC recruits.

then i can see a bunch of threads about who we couldve taken instead, then the arguments about injuries being his fault, badluck, overtrained, then eventually his name on the list of players to de-list at the end of the season coz he wasnt what most people expected when he was drafted.

Well, thanks for your constructive input.

[Bay Riffin 1,454]

Really like Taggerts game, kicked a couple of nice goals, one from a good old fashioned turnover, anticipating a kick out from the opposition. His kicking looks very good to me and has a tough look about him. A few more games like that and he will get promoted no doubt.

Thought Jurrah was excellent in the first half, Watts played well in general play all day, and Davis whilst I though was average early got better and better and looks like a stronger body for us at half back.

Also thought Cook as disapponting, hardly sighted, and Sheahan whilst clever and a lovely kick could have done a bit more.

Another one who looks to have improved and I hope he gets better is Lawrence. He does have good pace.

[Whispering_Jack 29,174]

We've now loaded KC's How The Demons Fared onto his original article.

KC advises that the Development League game this weekend is at Frankston and not Casey as originally advertised.

[old dee 23,486]

I can see him being in and out of injuries and struggling to recover from one until he gets another for the first 2 years of his career like most other MFC recruits.

then i can see a bunch of threads about who we couldve taken instead, then the arguments about injuries being his fault, badluck, overtrained, then eventually his name on the list of players to de-list at the end of the season coz he wasnt what most people expected when he was drafted.

Umm seems to a pattern emerging there olisik.

I wonder why that is?

[jimcor 212]

Did anyone notice how exhausted Jack Watts looked at different stages of this game. Either he is still not fit enough or he was doing a hell of a lot of running not shown on the broadcast. I suspect the latter. Did any of those at the game notice if this was the case?

[Balls 31]

Did anyone notice how exhausted Jack Watts looked at different stages of this game. Either he is still not fit enough or he was doing a hell of a lot of running not shown on the broadcast. I suspect the latter. Did any of those at the game notice if this was the case?

I thought David Rhys-Jones described Watts well during the call when he said he always seemed to be "ambling" around the ground. There's simply no sense of urgency about him that's required at AFL level, whether he's on the run or taking a free kick. As I've said earlier, he'll make a good ammo player. With respect KC, I didn't think he was too classy on Saturday and think he needs a few more weeks at this level to prove himself worthy of a game for the Dees at this stage of his career.

[jimcor 212]

I thought David Rhys-Jones described Watts well during the call when he said he always seemed to be "ambling" around the ground. There's simply no sense of urgency about him that's required at AFL level, whether he's on the run or taking a free kick. As I've said earlier, he'll make a good ammo player. With respect KC, I didn't think he was too classy on Saturday and think he needs a few more weeks at this level to prove himself worthy of a game for the Dees at this stage of his career.

I thought Rhys-Jones was very biased against Jack Watts and thought his commentary reflected this bias. Strangely, he started back-pedalling as the game progressed and seemed to accept that JW was,in fact, having a pretty good game. Towards the end, he reverted to a bit of Jack-pummeling. DR-J was a thug as a player and he's not lost that talent in the commentary box. A blind-sider.

Balls, on the other hand I think you,re right in that he does always seem to be an 'ambler' but, personally I don't think it's because he's not interested, I think that unlike some other players, he hasn't realized that if you look fierce, people (like us) will think you are fierce. I don't care whether he looks fierce or not as long as he keeps developing. Have a look at how often he gets caught with the ball - almost never. That's not a typical 'ambler'.

[sylvinator 96]

I thought Rhys-Jones was very biased against Jack Watts and thought his commentary reflected this bias. Strangely, he started back-pedalling as the game progressed and seemed to accept that JW was,in fact, having a pretty good game. Towards the end, he reverted to a bit of Jack-pummeling. DR-J was a thug as a player and he's not lost that talent in the commentary box. A blind-sider.

Balls, on the other hand I think you,re right in that he does always seem to be an 'ambler' but, personally I don't think it's because he's not interested, I think that unlike some other players, he hasn't realized that if you look fierce, people (like us) will think you are fierce. I don't care whether he looks fierce or not as long as he keeps developing. Have a look at how often he gets caught with the ball - almost never. That's not a typical 'ambler'.

I agree that Watts is sometimes unfairly criticised.

But i don't understand why he can't just take on some of the criticism and show a bit of urgency.

Like how hard is it to very quickly get up after a free kick and look for options. How hard is it to stand the mark properly and show some intensity about that. How hard is it to tackle through a player and not just give him a gentle hug.

The point is, those things won't necessarily turn him into a champion or make a significant different on his playing ability, but it sure would get some supporters and commentators off his back.

It's as if he's said to himself- "it's not an issue, everyone else is wrong, so to spite them i'm going to do ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to show people that I am looking to lift my intensity."

[pitmaster 3,443]

My guess is that we are now paying the price of Jack Watts having spent his time playing school football.

He looks to me like it has always come easily to him and as a big kid he has not had to work too hard - talent and height gave him an advantage but at AFL level you need hard work and mental toughness to really succeed.

Clearly he has loads of talent, is very good below the knees, a terrific kick and can take a contested grab. But there was a moment late in Saturday's game when Jack was one out against an opponent. He had body contact on the opponent and the ball was delivered to his advantage. He lazily (it looked like) stretched out one arm and... dropped the mark.

As a kid against smaller, lighter opponents he'd probably have held it.

Under Bailey he was promoted too soon, and has not had to earn his place. This has probably compounded the original problem of the game coming too easily to him.

I reckon he gets a rough time, and I don't rate NicNat as some do here. NicNat is all icing, no cake. But if JW is to prove Melbourne to have made the right call he has a heck of a lot of work to do.

The more urgent need is to inject some pace into the ones and for that Blease did his bit last week, and would have to be under serious consideration for promotion.

I don't think Jack did enough against Box Hill to earn a promotion. He has to learn hunger.

Edited May 15, 2012 by pitmaster

[Guest José Mourinho]

I agree that Watts is sometimes unfairly criticised.

But i don't understand why he can't just take on some of the criticism and show a bit of urgency.

Like how hard is it to very quickly get up after a free kick and look for options. How hard is it to stand the mark properly and show some intensity about that. How hard is it to tackle through a player and not just give him a gentle hug.

The point is, those things won't necessarily turn him into a champion or make a significant different on his playing ability, but it sure would get some supporters and commentators off his back.

It's as if he's said to himself- "it's not an issue, everyone else is wrong, so to spite them i'm going to do ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to show people that I am looking to lift my intensity."

If that's the case, do you think this criticism is reaching him, i.e. do you think the coaches are directing him to focus on these things?

And should he really care what the general football public think? Or should he focus on what the coaches want him to focus on?

They may not have told him to tackle like he is giving his opponent a hug, but they may also have not even mentioned that aspect while they focus on others that can have more impact whilst he still has a relatively light frame?

[Forest Demon 4,681]

If that's the case, do you think this criticism is reaching him, i.e. do you think the coaches are directing him to focus on these things?

And should he really care what the general football public think? Or should he focus on what the coaches want him to focus on?

They may not have told him to tackle like he is giving his opponent a hug, but they may also have not even mentioned that aspect while they focus on others that can have more impact whilst he still has a relatively light frame?

I heard neeld talk about Jack's urgency when discussing him playing at Casey on multiple occasions, so I think it has been a big focus.

[jimcor 212]

I heard neeld talk about Jack's urgency when discussing him playing at Casey on multiple occasions, so I think it has been a big focus.

I think that's right,FD. The challenge for coaches is to get the best possible result out of a player, any player. It's not about being one thing or another (tough, honest, open?), it's about the ability to extract that extra special something that needs to emerge to convert an ordinary player into a good one, and a good player into an exceptional one. For me, that's what the best coaches do. At the moment, Neeld hasn't been able to do that 100% with Jack Watts and a few others but that doesn't mean he won't be able to do it. The fact that he is tough, honest, open, determined makes it much more likely that he will succeed but, if it was that easy, we'd all be AFL coaches.

Time is what it will take. FWIW, I'd leave Jack Watts in the twos for the time being.

[dpositive 1,649]

We've now loaded KC's How The Demons Fared onto his original article.

KC advises that the Development League game this weekend is at Frankston and not Casey as originally advertised.

How do I find that KC's report?

[Rhino Richards 1,467]

The more urgent need is to inject some pace into the ones and for that Blease did his bit last week, and would have to be under serious consideration for promotion.

I don't think Jack did enough against Box Hill to earn a promotion. He has to learn hunger.

The problem is at the class level, Watts can get 25 possession in a canter.

For mine, Blease is in the same boat as Watts regarding doing the things the coach wants. He is just starting out.

However, after the Hawks game, there are a couple of players that have to go. Blease and Watts could easily get the call up for any of Bennell, Petterd or Fitzpatrick.

[Hobbits's 17]

How do I find that KC's report?

Above.

[Whispering_Jack 29,174]

A couple of links to vision from the game and stats:-

Rd 8 @BoxHillHawks v @CaseyScorpions Match Highlights are here - http://t.co/TxKKEnSx #PJVFL

— ABC VFL (@vflabc)

May 16, 2012

@CaseyScorpions followers watch the team sing the song in the rooms following their win in Round 8 at Box Hill - http://t.co/l1LN04xz #PJVFL

— ABC VFL (@vflabc)

May 16, 2012