Casey Scorpions v Northern Blues

[jumbo returns 6,741]

Bumped into a bloke at qtr time who I hadn't seen for a couple of decades. He talked a lot when I knew him a long time ago, and that hasn't changed. We watched the rest of the game together but I couldn't give any updates or keep a close eye on the players because that would have been impolite. Don't some people realise there are more important things in life than friendships???

Anyway, I thought there was a more even contribution from the team today and found it harder to find standout players.

Big Max had another very good game playing mostly in the ruck. He was up against Warnock and had the better of him most of the time. Took some more good marks and kicked 3 goals.

I was pleased to see an improvement in Viv Michie's form. He got a lot more of the ball than I had seen in the past few games at Casey, playing inside mid. Some good passages where he drove the ball forward out of the middle on a few occasions, one of which led to a goal as I recall.

Harmes continues to impress me with his energy and attacks on the ball, and mostly clean ball handling.

Nicho was again in a fair bit of the play but didn't dominate as much as a couple of weeks ago. Didn't see him really butcher a ball at all, but there was plenty of play that I couldn't see well across on the far wing.

Strauss had a just ok game. Had a couple of good passes but didn't cut up through the middle as much this week.

Thank you for the summary.

[bjDee 1,249]

Some others as they come to mind:

Evans had a pretty quiet game - from what I could see.

Salem looks like a half a class at least above VFL level. His goal was a set shot from around 30-40 m out straight in front. Connected beautifully. He will never be nervous in front of goal after the Essendon match winner. He also takes on and takles players much bigger than himself but is quite effective despite the size disadvantage. He came off early into the last qtr I think. Walked right past me - no signs of any discomfort.

Matt Jones gives the same as in AFL games. Running hard all the time. Did well again today. I'm sure he is out of the seniors just to give some others a chance to show whether they can make it.

Clisby - nothing of significance today. Got into a few passages of play but not a standout.

Fitzy didn't do much ruck work today - that was mostly left to Max. He was a forward target but the delivery wasn't always to his advantage. Still managed to kick a few. Missed some shots as well.

Barry got involved sporadically. He went hard when it was his turn to go. Sometimes let himself down with decision making and disposal.

Troy 'Truck' Davis - only a Scorps player now as we know, has become one if the key Scorps leaders in defence. His size and skills are better than average and its good to see him playing a valuable role, which is also valued by his team mates.

Edit: re-looking at the stats perhaps I've under-rated Clisby?

Edited August 2, 2014 by bjDee

[Roger Mellie 4,018]

How was Michie's defensive game?

[dee-luded 2,959]

Bumped into a bloke at qtr time who I hadn't seen for a couple of decades. He talked a lot when I knew him a long time ago, and that hasn't changed. We watched the rest of the game together but I couldn't give any updates or keep a close eye on the players because that would have been impolite. Don't some people realise there are more important things in life than friendships???

Anyway, I thought there was a more even contribution from the team today and found it harder to find standout players.

Big Max had another very good game playing mostly in the ruck. He was up against Warnock and had the better of him most of the time. Took some more good marks and kicked 3 goals.

I was pleased to see an improvement in Viv Michie's form. He got a lot more of the ball than I had seen in the past few games at Casey, playing inside mid. Some good passages where he drove the ball forward out of the middle on a few occasions, one of which led to a goal as I recall.

Harmes continues to impress me with his energy and attacks on the ball, and mostly clean ball handling.

Nicho was again in a fair bit of the play but didn't dominate as much as a couple of weeks ago. Didn't see him really butcher a ball at all, but there was plenty of play that I couldn't see well across on the far wing.

Strauss had a just ok game. Had a couple of good passes but didn't cut up through the middle as much this week.

don't tell me... not Nicho, surely? could he be a player to respond to the Roos style ? without being down there this year, I can only go on things I read. It sounds like he is learning? & developing better habits?

[dee-luded 2,959]

Evans had a pretty quiet game - from what I could see.

Clisby - nothing of significance today. Got into a few passages of play but not a standout.

Troy 'Truck' Davis - only a Scorps player now as we know, has become one if the key Scorps leaders in defence. His size and skills are better than average and its good to see him playing a valuable role, which is also valued by his team mates.

Edit: re-looking at the stats perhaps I've under-rated Clisby?

bjDee, whats happened with Clisby? I expected him to start to shine this year. thought he would have matured further? have I overrated him to come on?.... *I just saw your edit.

Has Davis improved at all since mid last year?

Evans, disappointed with this year. Wasting his time it seems from the outside ?

Edited August 2, 2014 by dee-luded

[bjDee 1,249]

Answering a few questions above:

I suspect Nicho will always be Nicho. Does well at VFL level but maybe just an also-ran when under the pressure of AFL footy.

Clisby looks surprisingly slighter than many other players up close. Hasn't built up physically at all, and doesn't have unique speed or skills to make him stand out so far. In contrast from the same intake, Kent has some dash, some chutzpah to take on an opportunity, and a good left boot. I don't know whether he will come on and I find it hard to see a place for him in the future. Note that I am not a scout nor even a good judge of footy talent.

Michie - I didn't pay attention to his defensive game. Maybe others who were at the game can comment or it might be picked up in the player evaluations report.

Evans had a quiet game today in my view but I've seen him be much more involved in other games recently. A bit like Nicho - on his day he can dominate and affect the tide of the game, but not today.

Davis - I reckon he has improved. Looks more settled and mature as a footballer. I think he could be a match for a Terlich type role (with probably better disposal) if he ever gets his way back into AFL contention.

Edit: added Evans and Davis.

Edited August 2, 2014 by bjDee

[CBDees 3,167]

The Scorpions win for the first time at home in 2014.Peter Jackson VFL

Casey Scorpions 4.2.26 10.4.64 12.9.81 13.14.92

Northern Blues 3.6.24 3.9.27 4.11.35 6.14.50

Goals

Casey Scorpions Best Fitzpatrick Gawn 3 M Jones Page Salem ScottNorthern Blues Walton 3 Bransgrove Totevski Warnock Casey Scorpions Gawn Michie Strauss Barry Fitzpatrick JonesNorthern Blues Armfield Wilson Wilkinson Cripps SheehanPossessions M Jones Michie 26 Clisby 24 Harmes 22 Barry Strauss 19 Gawn 18 Nicholson 16 Georgiou 14

Impressive 2nd qtr. thanks again KC!

[Demonland 72,176]

WHITE HOT by KC from Casey

It It was a case of all smiles at Casey Fields on Saturday when the Scorpions broke through for their first home win of the season with a seven goal victory over the Northern Blues. The club recorded a rare double with the improving development team also beating the Blues by 11 points.

The Casey Scorpions have endured a difficult season. Their young inexperienced team has suffered a great deal from inexperience, injury, loss of form and a shortage of the hard-bodied foot soldiers so necessary for to succeed at this level of the game. The short description of their form during 2014 would be "as cold as ice" and that phrase would also best sum up the chilly conditions the team faced for their round 17 game.

For once however, the weather was the only thing about the Scorpions that you could call cold because in every other regard they were white hot.

They comfortably won the ruck duels through the agency of twin towers in Max Gawn and Jack Fitzpatrick who put Carlton big man Robert Warnock out of business and also effectively doubled up as tall forwards when rested, each booting three goals. Gawn, who shouldered the majority of the ruckwork, tellingly kicked two goals in the opening term when the game was still a contest and the home team led narrowly over an inaccurate opposition at the first break.

After a brief arm wrestle the Scorpions took control winning the ball out of the middle and constantly pumping the ball forward. With Fitzpatrick the main target and Jake Best returning to form and both kicking goals, Casey overwhelmed the opposition and stormed to 37- point half time lead.

The six goals to one second term made the difference in the end but unlike so many previous occasions this year when they lapsed badly and gave up good half time leads, Casey nailed it this time by continuing to apply intense pressure and extending the lead to 46 points at the final change making the final quarter a virtual formality.

Apart from the dominant big men, Casey was well served by Viv Michie, Matt Jones and James Strauss while Dom Barry lifted his possession rate this week.

What would have been most pleasing to coach Rohan Welsh was the team's much more even performance and its greater efficiency with the football which was a stark contrast to many previous games when the team struggled to create scoring chances out of the opportunities presented even when on top in the stoppages.

The next two weeks sees Casey up against quality opposition and looking to taking some further steps forward in what has been an otherwise cold winter for the club.

Peter Jackson VFL

Casey Scorpions 4.2.26 10.4.64 12.9.81 13.14.92

Northern Blues 3.6.24 3.9.27 4.11.35 6.14.50

Goals

Casey Scorpions Best Fitzpatrick Gawn 3 M Jones Page Salem Scott

Northern Blues Walton 3 Bransgrove Totevski Warnock

Casey Scorpions Gawn Michie Strauss Barry Fitzpatrick Jones

Northern Blues Armfield Wilson Wilkinson Cripps Sheehan

Possessions M Jones Michie 26 Clisby 24 Harmes 22 Barry Strauss 19 Gawn 18 Nicholson 16 Georgiou 14

The development team took some further promising steps forward and led all game to record a strong victory despite some late heart flutters when the Blues outscored them in the final term. Matthew Rennie, one of many to debut with the seniors this year, starred with five goals.

AFL Victoria Development League

Casey Scorpions 4.1.25 6.3.39 10.5.65 12.7.79

Northern Blues 1.1.7 2.4.16 4.10.34 9.14.68

Goals

Casey Scorpions Rennie 5 Lang Paredes 2 Fisscher Jackson Murray

Northern Blues Johnson 3 Curnow 2 Haynes Johnston Sutton Watson

Casey Scorpions Rennie Paredes Symons Hillard Corrigan Jackson

Northern Blues Jenkins Johnston Roberts Thomas Watson Tardio

[ChaserJ 5,090]

Nice to see both Gawn and Fitzy kick three majors!

Yep, good to see Max hitting the scoreboard, one of the areas of improvement for Max flagged in the VFL reports from the dev coaches.

[gsmith12 491]

2 games in a row where big Max has impacted up forward as well as dominating the ruck and gaining possession numbers to boot.

Must have earnt a recall.

[Coup Cooper 610]

Jake Best Kicking three, good to see him back in the goal tally!

[Whispering_Jack 30,051]

Match Stats

Dom Barry 18 disposals 7 kicks 11 handballs 1 mark 2 tackles 54 Dream Team Points

Matt Clisby 25 disposals 12 kicks 13 handballs 2 marks 4 tackles 79 Dream Team Points

Michael Evans 12 disposals 6 kicks 6 handballs 1 mark 6 tackles 51 Dream Team Points

Jack Fitzpatrick 3 goals 3 behinds 13 disposals 11 kicks 2 handballs 6 marks 3 tackles 18 hit outs 106 Dream Team Points

Max Gawn 3 goals 1 behind 18 disposals 12 kicks 6 handballs 8 marks 3 tackles 57 hit outs Dream Team Points

Alexis Georgiou 14 disposals 8 kicks 6 handballs 3 marks 1 tackle 50 Dream Team Points

James Harmes 1 behind 22 disposals 10 kicks 12 handballs 2 marks 3 tackles 59 Dream Team Points

Matt Jones 1 goal 1 behind disposals 14 kicks 13 handballs 6 marks 4 tackles 101 Dream Team Points

Viv Michie 1 behind 27 disposals 17 kicks 10 handballs 1 mark 2 tackles 81 Dream Team Points

Dan Nicholson 15 disposals 9 kicks 6 handballs 5 marks 6 tackles 73 Dream Team Points

Christian Salem 1 goal 8 disposals 5 kicks 3 handballs 2 marks 4 tackles 49 Dream Team Points

James Strauss 20 disposals 13 kicks 7 handballs 2 marks 2 tackles 68 Dream Team Points

Player report

[monoccular 17,427]

KC, How is Alex Giorgiou tracking? Does he look comfortable at the level? I've got a feeling he could be required to play a bit more senior footy next year.

Alex was doing a pretty reasonable job, doing what was asked of him, playing his role, until friendly fire from Viney took him out. He was concussed.

Haven't heard much of him since.

A question for the regular Casey watchers: does he play as if he is still recovering from Jack's impact? Is he back on track?

[SaberFang 7,151]

Would be good to see Michie in this week. He's got to be a shoe-in after last week's deplorable effort by the ones.

[bjDee 1,249]

It's funny but Alex doesn't seem to me to be as competitive or combative in defence when playing at Casey vs his games earlier at AFL level. He is going ok and gets reasonable game reviews so I can't put my finger on it. I haven't studied his game closely, and at Casey you lack the elevated view available at AFL games or via TV broadcasts so a lot of the above is probably my warped perception rather than reality. Happy to be corrected by better judges of the Casey games than me.