A DAY TO FORGET by KC from Casey

The Casey Demons started the 2019 in unimpressive fashion with a 62 point loss to the  Box Hill Hawks at Box Hill City Oval.

It was a total contrast to their 2018 opening when they monstered the Coburg Lions but the circumstances were entirely different. Twelve months ago, the Demons were able to go into the match with a large contingent of AFL listed players while yesterday, they went into the game with 12 Melbourne players, mostly inexperienced. 

They were also hampered by the AFL schedule which sees the Demons facing the Swans up in Sydney on Thursday night, a factor which most surely saw the withdrawal of ruckman Braydon Preuss from the Box Hill game and others being lightly used throughout the afternoon. Whilst its no excuse for the poor performances of some of the others, to this observer, it took away from the team’s competitive ability against a side they beat by 10 points in a practice game as recently as 24 March.

Box Hill was out of the blocks quickly and dominated the opening quarter. Tim Smith has the kicking yips early and impressive small man Kade Chandler kicked the only goal as the home side took a 23 point lead into quarter time. 

After the break and reinforced by the introduction of Billy Stretch and Marty Hore, Casey fared a lot better. Smith finally hit the target and the busy Chandler scored his second at the 17 minute mark to provide a ray of light with the deficit under two goals but, after that, the afternoon turned into a nightmare.

Box Hill dominated the error riddled visitors for the next quarter and a half, going into the main break with a five goal lead and stretching that past nine goals at the final break. Casey rallied a little in the final term but their inaccuracy in front of goal ensured that they would make little impact on the final margin.

Best players for the Demons was Corey Maynard who put his hand up for senior selection with 27 disposals, likewise Billy Stretch with 20 touches in his three quarters. New skipper Mitch White tried hard against the odds on a difficult day for his team.

For the Casey Demons, it was a game best forgotten as they head back home for an encounter against North Melbourne next Saturday. 

2019 Hard Yakka / Totally Workwear VFL  

Casey Demons  1.4.10  3.6.24  3.10.28 4.18.42  

Box Hill Hawks  5.3.33 8.6.54 14.11.95 15.14.104  

Goals  

Casey Demons Chandler 2 Gent  T Smith  

Box Hill Hawks Ross 5 Lewis 4 Kilpatrick Schoenmakers 2 Hanrahan  Moore  

Best  

Casey Demons Maynard Stretch Chandler White Munro Bedford  

Box Hill Hawks Kilpatrick Lewis Ross O'Brien Jiath Miles

Statistics 

Oskar Baker 1 behind 5 kicks 4 handballs 9 disposals 2 marks 30 dream team points  
Toby Bedford 1 behind 5 kicks 9 handballs 14 disposals 4 marks 1 tackle 50 dream team points  
Kade Chandler 2 goals 1 behinds 10 kicks 7 handballs 17 disposals 4 marks 2 tackles 77 dream team points  
Dylan Collis 1 behinds 5 kicks 3 handballs 8 disposals 4 marks 2 tackles 30 dream team points  
Will Collis 5 kicks 3 handballs 8 disposals 2 marks 2 tackles 56 dream team points  
Jeffrey Garlett 1 behind 4 kicks 3 handballs 7 disposals 2 mark 3 tackles 28 dream team points  
Mitch Gent 1 goal 2 behinds 10 kicks 4 handballs 14 disposals 4. marks 1 tackle 63 dream team points  
Marty Hore 13 kicks 1 handballs 14 disposals 3 marks 53 dream team points  
Jack Hutchins 1 kicks 2 handballs 3 disposals 1 tackles 8 dream team points  
James Jordon 8 kicks 2 handballs 10 disposals 1 mark 2 tackles 39 dream team points  
Declan Keilty 3 kicks 6 handballs 9 disposals 3 marks 3 tackles 9 hit outs 48 dream team points  
Mitchell Lewis 8 kicks 6 handballs 14 disposals 3 marks 36 dream team points  
Corey Maynard 10 kicks 17 handballs 27 disposals 3 marks 2 tackles 82 dream team points  
James Munro 2 behinds 8 kicks 6 handballs 14 disposals 1 marks 3 tackles 48 dream team points  
Harrison Petty 4 kicks 2 handballs 6 disposals 4 marks 2 tackles 33 dream team points  
Aidan Quigley 8 kicks 3 handballs 11 disposals 5 marks 43 dream team points  
Tim Smith 1 goal 3 behinds 11 kick s 1 handball 12 disposals 1 mark 2 tackles 53 dream team points  
Tom Sparrow 5 kicks 6 handballs 11 disposals 3 marks 4 tackles 49dream team points  
Billy Stretch 13 kicks 7 handballs 20 disposals 2 marks 5 tackles 77 dream team points  
Cory Stockdale 8 kicks 2 handballs 10 disposals 1 mark 3 tackles 40 dream team points  
Luke Tynan 1 behind 7 kicks 9 handballs 16 disposals 4 marks 49 dream team points  
Liam Wale-Buxton 3 kicks 3 handballs 6 disposals 1 mark 2 tackles 17 hit outs 40 dream team points  
Mitchell White 1 behind 12 kicks 12 disposals 5 marks 2 tackles 60 dream team points