PRESSURE PACKED by KC from Casey

The Casey Demons were simply far too strong for North Melbourne’s new stand alone team in trying conditions on a cold, wet and windy, winter’s afternoon to win their eighth straight game. By doing so, they kept the Kangaroos goalless into the bargain.

The Demons with 17 AFL-listers were in control all day on an inhospitable, rain sodden Casey Fields ground that suited their strong-bodied, persistent, hard tackling game. They produced the ultimate in wet weather football dominating in every facet, perhaps with the exception of in the ruck where North giant Braydon Preuss held sway with a massive 71 hit outs. However, even that advantage was of little assistance to the Kangaroo cause given the fact that the slippery ball and Casey’s pressure in the clinches made it difficult for their on ball brigade to win the clearances. 

Casey had so much of the forward play that it was inevitable the opportunities would eventually come and they did so once or twice in every quarter, which was enough for them to forge an emphatic 37-point victory. That they kept they opposition to just seven points (three in the games’s dying moments) was a testament to their commitment to work hard all over the ground.

The man who relished the difficult conditions most was possibly the shortest on the ground in Jay Kennedy Harris who kept his feet and his composure to score the only three goals of the second and third quarters. He finished the game with 25 touches. Along with Tom Bugg and Dom Tyson (31 possessions each), the trio controlled the midfield and ensured that Casey was going to be favoured in the majority of those stoppages where the ball wasn’t shoveled over the boundary line or killed under the weight of a pack of players. 

That was the sort of game you expect on a day when howling winds and teeming rain are the order of the day. Those conditions would certainly have suited the burly Aaron vandenBerg in the ordinary course but you would hardly have expected that 679 days after his last game he would collect 23 disposals and 16 tackles after coming onto the ground at quarter time. We saw less of his teammate Pat McKenna, a former champion junior cricketer who has been out of the game for almost as long as vandenBerg, but he would have been happy to get through three quarters after a couple of seasons that have been cruelled by hamstring issues.

The Wagner brothers were solid again - Corey (19 touches and 15 tackles) was excellent against his old club and is really staking a claim for a second chance at AFL level while Jay Lockhart and James Munro with 20 possessions each coming out of defence hardly put a foot wrong all day.

The Demons are home again next Sunday against Footscray and will be anxious to maintain their pressure packed style on yet another opponent.

Peter Jackson VFL 2018

Casey Demons 1.4.10 2.6.18 4.12.36 5.14.44

North Melbourne VFL 0.2.2 0.3.3 0.4.4 0.7.7

Goals

Casey Demons Kennedy Harris 3 Hannan C Wagner 

North Melbourne VFL  

Best

Casey Demons Lockhart Kennedy-Harris Tyson Munro Vandenberg C Wagner

North Melbourne VFL Rippon Davies-Uniacke Preuss McKay Holmes Northe

Statistics 

Oskar Baker 1 behind 17 kicks 4 handballs 21 disposals 5 marks 2 tackles 78 dream team points
Harley Balic 10 kicks 9 handballs 19 disposals 3 marks 10 tackles 97 dream team points
Tomas Bugg 13 kicks 18 handballs 31 disposals 2 marks 11 tackles 128 dream team points
Lachlan Filipovic 1 behind 3 kicks 5 handballs 8 disposals 3 tackles 4 hit outs 41 dream team points
Mitch Hannan 1 goal 7 kicks 17 handballs 24 disposals 3 marks 12 tackles 116 dream team points 
Jack Hutchins 12 kicks 4 handballs 16 disposals 2 marks 4 tackles 63 dream team points 
Declan Keilty 1 kick 1 handballs 2 disposals 1 mark 6 tackles 32 dream team points
Jay Kennedy Harris 3 goals 14 kicks 11 handballs 25 disposals 1 mark 5 tackles 106 dream team points
Dean Kent 1 behind 11 kicks 4 handballs 15 disposals 2 marks 9 tackles 85 dream team point
Mitchell King 6 kicks 6 disposals 2 tackles 16 hit outs 37 dream team points
Jay Lockhart 15 kicks 5 handballs 20 disposals 3 marks 1 tackle 66 dream team points 
Pat McKenna 1 kick 8 handballs 9 disposals 1 mark 3 tackles 25 dream team points
Corey Machaya 1 behind 8 kicks 14 handballs 22 disposals 3 marks 6 tackles 85 dream team points
James Munro 14 kicks 6 handballs 20 disposals 4 marks 6 tackles 88 dream team points 
Cameron Pedersen 13 kicks 10 handballs 23 disposals 4 marks 4 tackles 87 dream team points  
Harrison Petty 6 kicks 4 handballs 10 disposals 2 marks 3 tackles 41 dream team points  
Tim Smith 1 behind 9 kicks 7 handballs 16 disposals 3 marks 2 tackles 59 dream team points
Corey Stockdale 17 kicks 2 handballs 19 disposals 1 mark 8 tackles 91 dream team points
Dom Tyson 8 kicks 23 handballs 31 disposals 7 marks 15 tackles 145 dream team points
Aaron vandenBerg 1 behind 13 kicks 10 handballs 23 disposals 16 tackles 108 dream team points 
Corey Wagner 1 goal 14 kicks 5 handballs 19 disposals 3 marks 15 tackles 123 dream team points
Josh Wagner 12 kicks 5 handballs 17 disposals 1 mark 8 tackles 82 dream team points
Sam Weideman 2 behinds 8 kicks 4 handballs 12 disposals 7 marks 2 tackles 3 hit outs 66 dream team points