EARLY FREEZE by KC from Casey

If the publicity ahead of Queens Birthday Monday was all about the Big Freeze and the game to follow the pre-game entertainment then the hardy group that braved the country’s cold snap to travel out to the windy plains beyond Cranbourne were given an early taste of what was to come in the Casey's big 52-point win over Collingwood VFL.

The day started well with the Demons comprehensively beating the VFLW Magpies in the curtain-raiser elimination final and then their male counterparts donned the traditional Springvale heritage kit to dominate their rivals in the VFL match.

With Melbourne holding back three players for emergency duties (Baker, Chandler and Tomlinson), Casey was left with 11 AFL-listed players but the VFL boys blended perfectly with them in what was a dominant display in the wild, woolly and freezing conditions.

They were out of the blocks quickly in a 6 goal to nil opening term with the young and the old of Casey featuring. Youngster Roan Steele from Frankston YCW started things off with a left foot snap followed by Jimmy Munro’s long 50 metre goal. A couple of Casey talls in Jack Bell and Josh Smith chipped in among a great soccer goal from dangerous young Demon Jacob Van Rooyen and nippy forward Andy Moniz-Wakefield. A feature of the  first quarter was Casey's deadly accuracy in front of goals.

When the teams changed ends, Collingwood rallied briefly with the wind and were competitive for a while but the avalanche continued with more individual goals from Taj Woewodin, late inclusion Riley Baldi who was having a break out game, Luke Dunstan who was having a blinder and Sam Weideman who had played strongly for limited results on the scoreboard.

By half time, when the rain had well and truly arrived to douse out any chance of a Magpie revival, the game was all but over. Coach Mark Corrigan would have been pleased with the fact that only one of his team’s 11 goals had come from a multiple goalkicker - Van Rooyen.

The rest of the game turned into a dreary slog in the wet and when conditions moderated there was no pot of gold under the Casey rainbow for the visitors. The second half was an even arm wrestle but the Demons could be well satisfied going into the bye round undefeated and well on top.

Dunstan rounded off a four quarter performance with 38 possessions, seven clearances, six tackles with solid contributions from Trent Rivers, Bailey Laurie, Taj Woewodin and Andy Moniz-Wakefield and Jayden Hunt. Toby Bedford also impressed with his strong tackling. Van Rooyen showed his versatility after kicking his two first half goals by backing up in the ruck when Josh Smith injured his meniscus.

Casey’s skipper Mitch White added two goals in the gloom of the third quarter while Jimmy Munro was the perfect foil for Dunstan with 28 disposals. Jack Bell had a huge game in the ruck with 29 hit outs and 14 possessions and, as mentioned earlier Baldi produced an excellent all round game, the best of his brief VFL career. Another excellent performance came from Corey Ellison who held sway in the key defensive position in the absence of Tomlinson and Daniel Turner.

In the end, it was another big, albeit early freeze for a visiting team at Casey Fields.

CASEY DEMONS 6.2.38 11.3.69 13.8.86 14.10.94

COLLINGWOOD VFL 0.2.2 2.5.17 4.6.30 6.6.42

Goals

Casey Demons Van Rooyen White 2 Baldi Bell Dunstan Laurie Moniz-Wakefield Munro Josh Smith Steele Weideman Woewodin

Collingwood VFL Wetering 2 Fowler Hustwaite Roberts Voulanis

Best

Casey Demons Dunstan Baldi Bell Munro Rivers Woewodin White

Collingwood VFL Brown Carmichael Poulter Bianco Tardrew Hustwaite

Statistics  

Riley Baldi 1 goal 6 kicks 15 handballs 21 disposals 2 marks 4 tackles 1 hit outs 79 dream team points
Toby Bedford 1 behind 6 kicks 6 handballs 12 disposals 4 marks 8 tackles 70 dream team points
Jack Bell 1 goals 8 kicks 6 handballs 14 disposals 3 marks 4 tackles 29 hit outs 95 dream team points
Matt Buntine 12  kicks 4 handballs 16 disposals 5 marks 5 tackles 79 dream team points
George Churchill Grey 1 behind 10 kicks 3 handballs 13 disposals 3 marks 44 dream team points
Luke Dunstan 1 goals 23 kicks 15 handballs 38 disposals 5 marks 6 tackles 138 dream team points
Corey Ellison 11 kicks 4 handballs 15 disposals 3 marks 1 tackle 54 dream team points
Jayden Hunt 12 kicks 4 handballs 16 disposals 3 marks 53 dream team points
Bailey Laurie 1 goals 6 kicks 17 handballs 23 disposals 2 tackles 63 dream team points
Tommy McRae 6 kicks 1 handball 7 disposals 3 marks 1 tackle 30 dream team points
Judd McVee 3 kicks 2 handballs 5 disposals 1 mark 1 tackle 20 dream team points
Bryce Milford 1 kicks 6 handballs 7 disposals 15 dream team points
Andy Moniz-Wakefield 1 goal 1 behind 9 kicks 6 handballs 15 disposals 6 marks 58 dream team points
James Munro 1 goals 9 kicks 19 handballs 28 disposals 1 marks 2 tackles 75 dream team points
Trent Rivers 1 behind 17 kicks 4 handballs 21 disposals 8 marks 3 tackles 93 dream team points
Miles Shepherd 2 kicks 4 handballs 6 disposals 1 marks 1 tackle 21 dream team points
Deakyn Smith 5 kicks 4 handballs 9 disposals 3 marks 4 tackles 48 dream team points
Josh Smith 1 goal 1 behind 3 kicks 1 handballs 4 disposals 3 marks 2 tackles 6 hit outs 41 dream team points
Roan Steele 1 goal 10 kicks 6 handballs 16 disposals 5 marks 1 tackles 65 dream team points
Jacob Van Rooyen 2 goals 8 kicks 6 handballs 14 disposals 6 marks 2 tackles 2 hit outs 67 dream team points
Sam Weideman 1 goal 2 behinds 10 kicks 4 handballs 14 disposals 7 marks 1 hit out 69 dream team points
Mitch White 2 goals 13 kicks 5 handballs 18 disposals 5 marks 3 tackles 82 dream team points
Taj Woewodin 1 goals 10 kicks 4 handballs 14 disposals 5 marks 1 tackle 61 dream team points