HIBERNATING by KC from Casey

When they locked up the rooms for summer at the end of last year’s football season, the rooms gathered cobwebs, the atmosphere became dense and the place developed a sleepy feel. They opened up the rooms to let Casey out to play on Sunday but the team was still hibernating and they missed the bulk of the opening quarter.

By the time they worked out it was game on, their opponents from Box Hill had accumulated five goals and, if the game wasn’t over, it might as well have been.

For a season opener at their home ground, this was a major disappointment for the Casey Demons who were uncompetitive for so much of the game. It began in the middle where the Hawks dominated in the ruck as well as at the stoppages.

There were times when the home side worked to regain the momentum such as was the case in the latter half of the second term but the Hawks were always in control and their pressure game constantly forced turnovers that were uncharacteristic of any Casey team of the past decade. 

Adding to the disappointment was the fact that some key injuries and an upcoming heavy schedule for Melbourne have opened up places at a higher level which demand standout performances that simply didn’t eventuate.

I mentioned the dominance of the Box Hill engine room and the Demons would be lamenting the loss of regulars such as Luke Dunstan, James Harms, Jimmy Munro and co. who previously gave the midfield such a hard edge. The vacuum left by their will take a while to be adequately filled.

Of the players in contention for higher places, Adam Tomlinson would have been close to the front of the line given that a couple of key defenders at AFL level are in doubt for the month ahead. As it was, Tomlinson’s game in Melbourne’s season opener wasn’t all that shabby. He certainly put his hand up to fill a key defensive spot with his 24-disposal display.

Former Brisbane Lions big man cum forward, Tom Fullarton was also under consideration for a chance to be called up. He had some moments with his 12 disposals and ten hit outs but he paled in the shadows of the more dynamic Box Hill ruck lineup.

One youngster with big wraps about him is Koltyn Tholstrup, a teenager with senior state league experience at Subiaco in the West. He impressed with his 18 disposals and a cool head under pressure and shouldn’t take long to make the step up to another level. Kynan Brown worked hard in the tough environment of a team that simply failed to gel further afield.

Others who had their moments were Bailey Laurie who kicked a goal and had 21 touches and Andy Moniz-Wakefield and Taj Woewodin, each with 19 disposals. 

The standout among Casey listers was former Magpie VFL team leader Campbell Hustwaite who was the best of  the team’s midfielders and promises to be a big feature at Casey in the future. Another newcomer, Caleb Lewis looked promising early but faded after half time after kicking a nice goal in the second term.

All in all however, it was a nightmare of a game in which the Hawks were a class above making it an occasion to forget. 

It is expected that Melbourne will take an expanded squad to Adelaide and remain in the city between its next two games so the Casey Demons can expect to have much less than the dozen Demon listed players they had available for the season opener when they take on Footscray next Saturday afternoon at Casey Fields.

Let’s hope they don’t miss their wake up call for that assignment.

CASEY DEMONS 1.3.9 3.5.23 4.6.30 6.10.46

BOX HILL HAWKS 5.6.36 6.9.45 10.13.73 12.15.87

GOALS

CASEY DEMONS Cross Hustwaite Laurie Lewis Schache Steele

BOX HILL HAWKS Butler 3 Meek 2 Hall Parsons Ramsden Rule Stefanakis Tucker Wood 

BEST

CASEY DEMONS Hustwaite Woewodin Tomlinson Fullarton Moniz-Wakefield Laurie

BOX HILL HAWKS Meek Hustwaite Morrison Serong Butler C Brown

Statistics 

Jed Adams 4 kicks 2 handballs 6 disposals 2 marks 1 tackles 26 dream team points
Kynan Brown 5 kicks 9 handballs 14 disposals 2 marks 3 tackles 53 dream team points
Leo Connolly 5 kicks 5 handballs 10 disposals 2 marks 28 dream team points
Paddy Cross 1 goal 4 kicks 4 handballs 8 disposals 2 marks 32 dream team points
Tyler Edwards 8 kicks 8 handballs 16 disposals 5 marks 1 tackle 60 dream team points
Kyah Farris-White 1 handball 2 dream team points
Tom Freeman 5 kicks 7 handballs 12 disposals 3 marks 1 tackle 44 dream team points
Tom Fullarton 9 kicks 3 handballs 12 disposals 1 mark 3 tackles 10 hitouts 55 dream team points
Andrew Green 4 kicks 2 handballs 6 disposals 2 marks 2 tackles 30 dream team points
Campbell Husthwaite 1 goal 5 kicks 18 handballs 23 disposals 5 marks 3 tackles 82 dream team points
Matt Jefferson 7 kicks 1 handballs 8 disposals 4 marks 32 dream team points
Bailey Laurie 1 goal 1 behind 11 kicks 10 handballs 21 disposals 2 marks 1 tackle 67 dream team points
Caleb Lewis 1 goal 1 behind 3 kicks 2 handballs 5 disposals 1 mark 22 dream team points
Andy Moniz-Wakefield 11 kicks 8 handballs 19 disposals 5 marks 5 tackles 1 hitout 80 dream team points
Ned Moodie 2 kicks 10 handballs 12 disposals 1 marks 2 tackles 38 dream team points
Harvey Neocleous 6 kicks 2 handballs 8 disposals 1 marks 25 dream team points
Josh Schache 1 goal 3 behinds 7 kicks 2 handballs 9 disposals 5 marks 1 tackle 53 dream team points
Roan Steele 1 goal 2 behinds 8 kicks 6 handballs 14 disposals 2 marks 4 tackles 63 dream team points
Koltyn Tholstrup 9 kicks 9 handballs 18 disposals 4 marks 6 tackles 81 dream team points
Adam Tomlinson 20 kicks 4 handballs 24 disposals 6 marks 86 dream team points
Will Verrall 1 behind 5 kicks 4 handballs 9 disposals 1 mark 10 hitouts 37 dream team points
Mitch White 1 behind 12 kicks 6 handballs 18 disposals 3 marks 4 tackles 71 dream team points
Taj Woewodin 12 kicks 7 handballs 19 disposals  7 marks 2 tackles 76 dream team points