HIATUS by KC from Casey

After their five week Covid19 lockdown hiatus, the Casey Demons were fairly scratchy against Essendon VFL for the best part of 2½ quarters on Sunday afternoon but they finally settled down to motor away to a 48 point victory.

With 20 AFL affiliated players on the team sheet, the Casey line up looked the strongest team ever put together since linking up with the Demons but the team struggled to score in the early going and managed its first goal to Aaron vandenBerg late in the first term. The teams were on level pegging at the quarter time break with veteran Nathan Jones in everything and Jake Melksham providing great back up. The teams remained virtually locked together for the first half of the term until an inspirational goal from Jones from a long way out on the boundary was followed by another from Mitch White after a chain of possession started deep in defence by that man Jones. They went into the sheds at half time with the home side 15 points ahead.

After the break it was the Bombers who were reinvigorated and three quick goals were the result of some strong running through the lines that caught the Casey defence by surprise. The Demons regrouped however, and were steadied by two goals from Ben Brown, one from a strong mark, the other from a nice pick up in the goal square. By the final break, the three goal buffer was restored and the goals flowed in the final term with Casey recording a big win.

Ben Brown recorded a five goal haul to underscore his case for AFL promotion while his rival for a return to the Melbourne team, Sam Weideman, was also impressive but in a different role which required his involvement further down the ground with the odd run in the ruck. Both men were overshadowed by Jones who demonstrated that his days at the top are not yet over. 2020 draftee Jake Bowey impressed with his composure and excellent disposal by foot and hand. Melksham and vandenBerg also showed their class.

The two players recruited in the recent Mid Season Draft - Kye Declase and Daniel Turner - both had impressive debuts and look to have senior potential but will need to bide their time and establish their credentials. Mitch Brown went off early with a heel injury.

The game gave Melbourne Football Club selectors plenty of food for thought as the game and the country travel again into the unknown with Covid19 outbreaks affecting several states. 

VFL Mens

Casey Demons  1.2.8 4.7.31 7.11.53 13.14.92

Essendon VFL 1.2.8 2.4.16 5.4.34 6.8.44

GOALS

Casey Demons B. Brown 5 Melksham White 2 Jetta Jones vandenBerg Weideman

Essendon VFL Cahill 2 Brown Hird Johnson McBride

BEST

Casey Demons Jones Bowey B Brown Weideman vandenBerg Smith

Essendon VFL O’Kearney Cahill Cutler Gleeson Hird Bryan

Statistics 

Oskar Baker 15 kicks 3 handballs 18 disposals 7 marks 2 tackles 78 dream team points

Toby Bedford 4 kicks 4 handballs 8 disposals 2 marks 3 tackles 35 dream team points

Jake Bowey 19 kicks 8 handballs 27 disposals 7 marks 4 tackles 111 dream team points

Aaron Bradtke 3 kicks 4 handballs 7 disposals 2 marks 1 tackle 27 dream team points

Kade Chandler 1 behind 9 kicks 5 handballs 14 disposals 7 marks 2 tackles 67 dream team points

Ben Brown 5 goals 2 behinds 14 kicks 14 disposals 8 marks 1 tackle 3 hit outs 106 dream team points

Mitch Brown 1 behind 1 kick 1 disposal 1 mark 7 dream team points [injured]

Majak Daw 3 kicks 7 handballs 10 disposals 3 marks 3 tackles 22 hit outs 63 dream team points

Kye Declase 10 kicks 3 handballs 13 disposals 5 marks 1 tackle 55 dream team points

Neville Jetta 1 goal 1 behind 12 kicks 4 handballs 16 disposals 4 marks 6 tackles 86 dream team points

Nathan Jones 1 goal 1 behind 19 kicks 16 handballs 35 disposals 4 marks 6 tackles 128 dream team points

Bailey Laurie 8 kicks 5 handballs 13 disposals 5 marks 1 tackle 51 dream team points

Jay Lockhart 8 kicks 6 handballs 14 disposals 3 marks 5 tackles 66 dream team points

Jake Melksham 2 goals 1 behind 16 kicks 6 handballs 22 disposals 6 marks 4 tackles 107 dream team points

James Munro 6 kicks 9 handballs 15 disposals 2 marks 1 tackles 43 dream team points

Fraser Rosman 6 kicks 4 handballs 10 disposals 2 marks 2 tackles 41 dream team points

Deakyn Smith 4 kicks 4 handballs 8 disposals 3 marks 2 tackles 37 dream team points

Joel Smith 7 kicks 2 handballs 9 disposals 4 marks 2 tackles 43 dream team points

Daniel Turner 5 kicks 11 handballs 16 disposals 5 marks 53 dream team points

Aaron vandenBerg 1 goal 16 kicks 12 handballs 28 disposals 6 marks 5 tackles 107 dream team points

Sam Weideman 1 goal 3 behinds 13 kicks 8 handballs 21 disposals 11 marks 2 tackles 10 hit outs 113 dream team points

Mitch White 2 goals 2 behinds 9 kicks 4 handballs 13 disposals 5 marks 1 tackle 68 dream team points