A MAN’S ERRAND by KC from Casey

A young and undermanned Casey Demons were sent out on Saturday to the Swinburne Centre in the shadows of the MCG on a man’s errand against a very experienced Richmond VFL combination which is the clear ladder leader and fielded no less than 18 AFL listed players.

It was expected to be a rout and the Tigers made easy work of it in the early stages when they held a 26 point lead by quarter time. To their credit however, the Demons weathered the storm and kept their opponents within the range of that margin until a late run of goals saw them lose by a margin of 35 points in the end. Richmond’s accuracy when kicking for goal probably made that margin somewhat flattering.

Given that the Demons had only nine MFC listers (including Category B rookie Austin Bradtke who is only finding his feet after spending several years as a basketballer) and lost Jimmy Munro who has been in exceptional form to a rib injury before half time, it was a far better display than anyone could reasonably have expected.

With half a dozen in the side having played no more than a handful of games at this level, the Casey side stuck to the plan and defended well against the odds.

The man who held the defence together in outstanding fashion was former Magpie VFL player Marty Hore who collected 34 touches and spent the afternoon harassing the opposition and intercepting many of their scoring attempts, a particularly courageous display in light of the fact that less than a month ago he suffered a broken collarbone on the MCG. He certainly thrust his name before the Melbourne selectors for a return to that venue in a week’s time against the Magpies.

Another returning Demon who shone out was Billy Stretch who has been bedeviled by foot injuries over the past twelve months. He provided great drive on one wing but unfortunately, the cupboard was mostly bare and bereft of key forward talent and this was the team’s ultimate downfall

Although slightly beaten on the day by Richmond’s 2017 premiership ruckman Toby Nankervis, Casey’s big man Liam Wale-Buxton battled manfully and picked up 31 hit outs in a great tussle against the Tiger who is coming back from injury and is expected to return to the senior Richmond side before the finals.

Former skipper Jack Hutchins had his best game for a while and 19-year-old Nick Lowden was impressive with two goals, one of which was a great snap from the boundary.

With just two games left for the season, Casey is unlikely to contest the finals but will be keen to finish the season on a winning note.

2019 Hard Yakka / Totally Workwear VFL

Casey Demons 1.1.7 3.3.21 4.6.30 6.7.43

Richmond VFL 5.3.33 7.4.46 8.5.53 12.6.78

Goals

Casey Demons Lowden 2 Bedford Lockhart Munro White

Richmond VFL Aarts Markov Menadue Miller 2   Coleman-Jones Grewar Nankervis  Pickett

Best

Casey Demons Hutchins Keilty Hore White Stretch Wale-Buxton

Richmond VFL Aarts Morris Coleman-Jones Nankervis Naish Eggmolesse-Smith

Statistics 

Toby Bedford 1 goal 7 kicks 4 handballs 11  disposals 4 marks 4 tackles 62 dream team points  
Austin Bradtke 1 behind 2 kicks 3 handballs 5 disposals14 dream team points    
Jaxon Briggs 11 kicks 3 handballs 14 disposals 7 marks 2 tackles 69 dream team points 
Kade Chandler 5 kicks 8 handballs 13 disposals 1 mark 3 tackles 45 dream team points  
Dylan Collis 6 kicks 4 handballs 10 disposals 3 marks 2 tackles 40 dream team points  
Joe Di Pasquale 2 behinds 13 kicks 2 handballs 15 disposals 6 marks 1 tackle 70 dream team points 
Tom Freeman 9 kicks 3 handballs 12 disposals 2 marks 40 dream team points  
Matt Gahan 4 kicks 4 handballs 8 disposals 2 marks 1 tackle 31 dream team points 
Marty Hore 30 kicks 4 handballs 34 disposals 6 marks 5 tackles 133 dream team points  
Jack Hutchins 3 behinds 15  kicks 5 handballs 20 disposals 9 marks 5 tackles 106 dream team points  
James Jordon 2 kicks 12 handballs 14  disposals 2 marks 6 tackles 58 dream team points  
Declan Keilty 2 kicks 6 handballs 8 disposals 1 mark 1 tackle 22 dream team points    
Mykelty Lefau 2 kicks 2 disposals 2 tackles 12 dream team points  
Jay Lockhart 1 goal 12 kicks 2 handballs 14 disposals 3 marks 6 tackles 81 dream team points  
Nick Lowden 2 goals 9 kicks 4 handballs 13 disposals 8 marks 72 dream team points  
Ariek Lual 4 kicks 4 handballs 8 disposals 4 marks 32 dream team points  
James Munro 1 goal 6 kicks 5 handballs 11 disposals 3 marks 5 tackles 64 dream team points  
Cory Stockdale 9 kicks 5 handballs 14 disposals 5 marks 52 dream team points  
Billy Stretch 16 kicks 7 handballs 23 disposals 2 marks 3 tackles 79 dream team points  
Luke Tynan 9 kicks 6 handballs 15 disposals 2 marks 4 tackles 63 dream team points  
Josh Wagner 13 kicks 5 handballs 18 disposals 5 marks 7 tackles 95 dream team points 
Liam Wale-Buxton 5 kicks 1 handballs 6 disposals 1 mark 7 tackles 31 hit outs 78 dream team points 
Mitch White 1 goal - details unavailable