ADVANTAGE CASEY by KC from Casey

The Casey Demons held all of the advantages over their rivals from Sandringham as the teams played off in the long-awaited VFL season opener on Sunday. For starters, they were playing on their home turf and secondly, they outnumbered their opponents 16 to 9 in AFL listed players which, at this level, is enormous. They also were well above the Zebras in class and general preparation for the contest and this was reflected in the way they took charge of proceedings after a slow beginning and romped to an 83-point win that sees them sitting comfortably on top of the ladder after Round 1.

Veteran forward Mitch Brown led the way with seven goals for the day, including three in the second term, that should put him in contention to join his key forward namesake with a senior berth against his old side Essendon on Friday night at the MCG. He moved well, marked strongly and proved a handful for the Zebra defenders. He was aided and abetted up forward by recruit Jacob van Rooyen who booted three goals for the day in an outstanding debut at the club.

After the break, with the visitors tiring, it became a case of how far the Casey lead would extend by the end of the game. The home side was well led by seasoned VFL campaigners in Mitch White and Jimmy Munro whose efforts helped create team dominance in every sector of the ground.
The game also underlined the club’s great depth with Luke Dunstan showing that he isn’t far off a return to the AFL in his new colours despite the fact that the Melbourne midfield is a formidable place to break into. Toby Bedford who sat on the sidelines as substitute in the sticky conditions on the Gold Coast on Saturday night shook off the Zebras with pace, poise and three goals.

Youngsters on debut in Blake Howes and Taj Woewodin were excellent and Deakyn Smith showed definite signs of improvement with a strong display in defence. Bailey Laurie who was rarely sighted last year due to injury and a truncated VFL season looked the goods up forward with a lively two goal performance. Rookies Judd McVee and Andy Moniz-Wakefield are also likely prospects for the future.

The Demons will take their home ground advantage into Round 2 when they play the Bombers’ VFL team next Saturday at Casey Fields.

CASEY DEMONS 4.2.26 11.5.71 16.8.104 21.14.140

SANDRINGHAM 2.3.15 5.3.33 6.7.43 8.9.57

GOALS 

CASEY DEMONS M Brown 7 Bedford Van Rooyen 3 Laurie White 2 Chandler Dunstan Weideman Woewodin 

SANDRINGHAM Carey Geary Henness Kent Kyle Lohmann McHale Ryder

BEST

CASEY DEMONS Brown Munro Van Rooyen Dunstan White Smith Bedford Baker

SANDRINGHAM Ryder Windhager Connolly Owens Heath Geary Seaton

STATISTICS