AUDITION by KC from Casey

[Demonland 64,398]

The Casey Demons took second spot on the VFL ladder with a comfortable victory over stand alone side Williamstown on Sunday in an often spiteful game that broke a long drought at Point Gellibrand as the club had not won there since 2007. 

The game opened in calm and sunny conditions on what is an often windswept Williamstown Football Ground but nothing was calm about the tough game that ensued for the participants. The Demons got the upper hand with the opening goal to Harley Balic but the game developed into an arm wrestle with scores close until the visitors drew away late in the second term thanks to some strong play by Cameron Pedersen and the flair of Jeff Garlett who each booted two goals in the first half. 

With injuries opening up at least one and possibly more vacancies for places in the Demons' AFL side for their Queens Birthday blockbuster against the Magpies, the game became an audition for the 18 players eligible for selection in that game with the eye on key defenders likely to take the place of Jake Lever whose ACL injury was confirmed during the afternoon. None of the main contenders in Sam Frost, Joel Smith and rookie Declan Keilty definitively claimed the vacancy but each had their moments and Frost would be the clubhouse leader from my perspective if the Melbourne selectors decide to go with a tall for the position.

Pedersen continued to dominate in the third quarter as the breeze came up a little and  thanks to his strength and marking dominance and the continued good form of Billy Stretch and the recent improvement of Jay Kennedy Harris, the Demons skipped away to a 40-point lead with five goals to one for the term. Sam Weideman stepped his game up after the break to finish with two goals and could easily have finished with more. Dom Tyson was busy but not as influential as last week. 

The game was marred by several behind the play incidents that seemed to increase with the Seagulls' level of frustration as the game slipped away from their hands. The final quarter saw several missed opportunities in front of goal with the only major scored by the home team but an incident in mid term which saw Pedersen's head hit the ground after a marking contest near the boundary took out whatever sting was left in the game. He left the ground seemingly concussed and most likely out of contention for a senior recall after ten goals in his last two games.

Jayden Hunt and Josh Wagner were two other contenders, the former being influential in the first half and receiving some close attention from an opponent. Balic is another who performed well and put his hand up for a possible debut with Melbourne next week.

However, with only a limited number of positions available for the game on the big stage, the game was still a valuable exercise for those who will not make it through the audition for Queens Birthday as it was a perfect dress rehearsal for Saturday's televised game at Casey Fields against Collingwood VFL.

Peter Jackson VFL 2018

Casey Demons 4.4.28 6.8.44 11.12.78 11.18.84 

Williamstown 3.3.21 4.7.31 5.8.38 6.10.46 

Goals 

Casey Demons Pedersen 4 Garlett Weideman 2 Balic Frost King

Williamstown Dorgan Ebinger George  Marcon Masters Schultz

Best

Casey Demons Stretch Pedersen Balic Kennedy Harris J Wagner

Williamstown Greiser Myers Tippett George Dorgan Meese

Statistics

Oskar Baker 10 kicks 13 handballs 23 disposals 7 marks 77 dream team points
Harley Balic 1 goal 4 behinds 12 kicks 5 handballs 17 disposals 5 marks 3 tackles 83 dream team points
Tomas Bugg 1 behind 8 kicks 5 handballs 13 disposals 2 marks 8 tackles 68 dream team points
Lachlan Filipovic 5 kicks 5 disposals 4 marks 4 hit outs 31 dream team points 
Sam Frost 1 goal 9 kicks 5 handballs 14 disposals 5 marks 5 tackles 78 dream team points 
Jeff Garlett 2 goals 2 behinds 9 kicks 8 handballs 17 disposals 2 marks 5 tackles 84 dream team points 
Jayden Hunt 13 kicks 8 handballs 21 disposals 2 marks 1 tackle 61 dream team points
Dion Johnstone 12  kicks 6 handballs 18 disposals 3 marks 5 tackles 75 dream team points
Declan Keilty 5 kicks 6 handballs 11 disposals 4 marks 4 tackles 55 dream team points
Jay Kennedy Harris 1 behind 12 kicks 12 handballs 24 disposals 2 marks 5 tackles 85 dream team points
Mitchell King 1 goal 4 kicks 2 handballs 6 disposals 2 marks 3 tackles 17 hit outs 58 dream team points
Mitchel Lewis 1 behind 4  kicks 6 handballs 10 disposals 2 marks 3 tackles 43 dream team points
Jay Lockhart 1 behind 8 kicks 10  handballs 18 disposals 3 marks 2 tackles 62 dream team points  
Cameron Pedersen 4 goals 1 behind 12 kicks 6 handballs 18 disposals 11 marks 4 tackles 5 hit outs 122 dream team points
Harrison Petty 9 kicks 6 handballs 15 disposals 4 marks 53 dream team points 
Aidan Quigley 1 behind 1 kick 8 handballs 9 disposals 1 mark 2 tackles 28 dream team points 
Angus Scott 12 kicks 6 handballs 18 disposals 3 marks 2 tackles 65 dream team points 
Joel Smith 13 kicks 4 handballs 18 disposals 5 marks 5 tackles 82 dream team points 
Billy Stretch 1 behind 12 kicks 16 handballs 28 disposals 8 marks 6 tackles 117 dream team points
Dom Tyson 9 kicks 14 handballs 23 disposals 4 marks 8 tackles 97 dream team points 
Corey Wagner 1 behind 14  kicks 10 handballs 24 disposals 4 marks 6 tackles 99 dream team points
Josh Wagner 16 kicks 10 handballs 26 disposals 6 marks 3 tackles 95 dream team points
Sam Weideman 2 goals 1 behind 8 kicks 3 handballs 11 disposals 4 marks 4 tackles 2 hit outs 71 dream team points