ADVANTAGE CASEY by KC from Casey

[Demonland 73,106]

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 

Oskar Baker 18 kicks 5 handballs 23 disposals 6 marks 1 tackle 87 dream team points


Toby Bedford 3 goals 1 behind 10 kicks 3 handballs 13 disposals 5 marks 5 tackles 91 dream team points


Mitch Brown 7 goals 3 behinds 18 kicks 1 handball 19 disposals 14 marks 2 tackles 155 dream team points


Kade Chandler 4 kicks 1 handball 5 disposals 1 mark 25 dream team points


Majak Daw 1 behind 7 kicks 1 handball 8 disposals 3 tackles 22 hit outs 59 dream team points


Luke Dunstan 1 goal 20 kicks 5 handballs 25 disposals 7 marks 4 tackles 113 dream team points 

Corey Ellison 6 kicks 4 handballs 10 disposals 2 marks 2 tackles 34 dream team points


Tom Freeman 6 kicks 2 handballs 8 disposals 3 marks 2 tackles 33 dream team points 

Luca Goonan 13 kicks 5 handballs 18 disposals  4 marks 62 dream team points


Blake Howes 1 behind 6 kicks 10 handballs 16 disposals 3 marks 3 tackles 58 dream team points 

Bailey Laurie 2 goals 10 kicks 10 handballs 20 disposals 3 marks 5 tackles 86 dream team points


Judd McVee 1 behind 8 kicks 9 handballs 17 disposals 8 marks 4 tackles 83 dream team points


Jake Melksham 8 kicks 6 handballs 14 disposals 4 marks 2 tackles 53 dream team points 

Bryce Milford 6 kicks 7 handballs 13 disposals 5 marks 1 tackle 51 dream team points


Andy Moniz-Wakefield 5 kicks 9 handballs 14 disposals 2 marks 1 tackles 44 dream team points

James Munro 13 kicks 13 handballs 26 disposals 2 marks 7 tackles 97 dream team points


Aiden Quigley 2 kicks 1 handballs 3 disposals 8 dream team points


Fraser Rosman 8 kicks 2 handballs 10 disposals 4 marks 41 dream team points


Deakyn Smith 15 kicks 6 handballs 21 disposals 10 marks 1 tackle 91dream team points

Sam Weideman 1 goal 1 behind 9 kicks 4 handballs 13 disposals 6 marks 2 tackles 4 hit outs 68 dream team points


Mitch White 2 goals 1 behind 15 kicks 6 handballs 21 disposals 3 marks 4 tackles 94 dream team points

Taj Woewodin 1 goal 12 kicks 6 handballs disposals 8 marks 1 tackles 84 dream team points

Jacob Van Rooyen 3 goals 2 behinds 11 kicks 1 handball 12 disposals 8 marks 4 tackles 2 hit outs 98 dream team points