UNDER THE PUMP by KC from Casey

[Demonland 67,235]

The Casey Demons have been left languishing near the bottom of the VFL table after suffering a 32-point defeat at the hands of stand alone club Williamstown at Casey Fields on Sunday.

The Demons suffered a major setback before the game even started when AFL listed players Ben Brown, Marty Hore and Josh Schache were withdrawn from the selected side. Only Schache was confirmed as an injury replacement, the other two held over as possible injury replacements for Melbourne’s Thursday night fixture against Carlton. 

The replacements didn’t end there as forward Shane McAdam left the field early with concussion. Lachie Hunter, who was quiet up to half time, saw no further action after the main break, suggesting that he was also being held back. With the continuing absence of injured centreman Campbell Hustwaite and the resting  (management) of defender Leo Connolly, the home side was almost bereft of strong bodies with experienced heads.

Against ladder heavyweights Williamstown, Casey was left flat footed. They managed the opening goal from Harvey Neocleous in the first minute or so of the game but then struggled to score when slightly favoured by a cross wind for the remainder of the term and their next goal took a while coming. By that time the Seagulls were in command. 

Adam Tomlinson was getting plenty of touches in the early going but one or two errors proved costly and his influence waned after a dominant opening term.

The second quarter saw Willy quickly skip away to a 23 point lead, at which time a sudden and unexpected change came over the game.

Enter Roy George, unheralded debutant and former Peel Thunder player who kicked the first of his three goals to stem the tide in mid term and contributed to another by chipping the ball to Kynan Brown before the buzzer to see the team only 15 points adrift at half time. 

Fans around the ground were asking “who is this effervescent small forward Roy George?” 

The answer is that the 179cm tall, 87kg journeyman originally named as an emergency who got his call up when Melbourne withdrew three of its players from the team before the game, hails from Bunbury WA. He has played for Peel Thunder in the WAFL and over the past couple of years, his name has bobbed up in country Victoria and in the Northern Territory in the off season.

George remained in the thick of things in the third quarter, kicking two quick goals and assisting in others. Against the odds, Casey was now back in the game thanks to his brilliance coupled with the strong defensive play of Andy Moniz-Wakefield who finished with a game-high 30 disposals and seven marks. 

The team’s younger guns Matt Jefferson, Koltyn Tholstrup and Ollie Sestan all contributed to the team’s sudden reversal of fortunes. Jefferson in particular, had a strong second half after a quiet start and was another who led a third quarter charge that saw Casey incredibly holding a six point lead at the final break. 

The Seagulls still had the ace card as they had the advantage of the wind at their backs in the final term but when Jefferson goaled five minutes into the quarter, an upset seemed a possibility. 

Not to be deterred, Willy plugged away and fought back to again wrest the lead in mid quarter. Casey’s cause was not helped by the fact that two of their Melbourne listers were off for all of the second half. George’s influence faded at the end, as did one or two others who had carried a heavy load through the game’s difficult conditions. 

Once Williamstown got their noses in front, the floodgates opened. With experienced, ex GWS Giant 203cm ruckman Tom Downie, dominant and ex Casey player Corey Ellison booting four goals, the visitors romped home with six of the last seven majors of the game. 

Although beaten in the ruck, Will Verrall had 17 disposals and 23 hitouts while Kynan Brown finished with 15 touches, 10 tackles and a goal. Mitch White (21 disposals) and Tyler Edwards (20 possessions) battled hard all day for Casey.

The Casey Demons are now a shadow of the team that won the flag less than two years ago and will remain under the pump as long as the VFL fixture makes it difficult for the club to play its strongest team with players held back to potentially remain fresh to face off against opponents on short breaks. Their next game is against Carlton at Ikon Park on Friday.

CASEY DEMONS 1.0.6 3.3.21 8.6.54 10.8.68

WILLIAMSTOWN 1.4.10 5.6.36 7.6.54 15.10.100

GOALS 

CASEY DEMONS George Jefferson 3 Brown Edwards Neocleous White

WILLIAMSTOWN Ellison 4 McLoughlin Petric 3 Brown Ebinger Gadsby Henderson Toner

BEST 

CASEY DEMONS Moniz-Wakefield White Edwards Verrall George Tomlinson Brown

WILLIAMSTOWN Downie Ellison Toner McLaughlin Fitzgerald Triffett

Disposals 

Jed Adams 7 kicks 3 handballs 10 disposals 4 marks 36 dream team points
Jake Bell 1 behind 3 kicks 2 handballs 5 disposals 4 marks 2 tackles 34 dream team points
Kynan Brown 1 goal 6 kicks 9 handballs 15 disposals 2 marks 10 tackles 88 dream team points
Tyler Edwards 1 goal 16 kicks 4 handballs 20 disposals 6 marks 4 tackles 100 dream team points
Tom Freeman 6 kicks 4 handballs 10 disposals 5 marks 2 tackles 50 dream team points
Tom Fullarton 1 behind 9 kicks 2 handballs 11 disposals 3 marks 10 hitouts 51  dream team points
Roy George 3 goals 7 kicks 5 handballs 12 disposals 3 marks 1 tackles 64 dream team points
Max Gregory 3 kicks 6 handballs 9 disposals 2 marks 24 dream team points
Lachie Hunter 3 kicks 1 handballs 4 disposals 3 marks 17 dream team points
Matt Jefferson 3 goals 2 behinds 6 kicks 6 handballs 12 disposals 5 marks 2 tackles 74 dream team points
Brayden Laplanche 4 kicks 2 handballs 6 disposals 3 marks 3 tackles 34 dream team points
Shane McAdam 1 kicks 2 handballs 3 disposals 1 mark 10 dream team points 
Andy Moniz-Wakefield 23 kicks 7 handballs 30 disposals 7 marks 3 tackles 114 dream team points
Ned Moodie 6 kicks 10 handballs 16 disposals 2 marks 2 tackles 49 dream team points
Harvey Neocleous 1 goal 4 kicks 2 handballs 6 disposals 22 dream team points
Ollie Sestan 1 behind 11 kicks 3 handballs 14 disposals 2 marks 3 tackles 59 dream team points
Roan Steele 5 kicks 1 handballs 6 disposals 2  tackles 22 dream team points
Mitch Szybkowski 8 kicks 2 handballs 10 disposals 2 marks 2 tackles 42 dream team points
Koltyn Tholstrup 7 kicks 5 handballs 12 disposals 3 marks 6 tackles 66 dream team points
Adam Tomlinson 16 kicks 4 handballs 20 disposals 8 marks 3 tackles 86 dream team points
Will Verrall 8 kicks 9 handballs 17 disposals 2 marks 5 tackles 23 hitouts 92 dream team points
Mitch White 1 goal 13 kicks 8 handballs 21 disposals 3 marks 7 tackles 98 dream team points
Kai Windsor 2 kicks 2 handballs 4 disposals 1 mark 10 dream team points