CRASH LANDING by KC from Casey

The Gold Coast is putting on a fabulous extravaganza this weekend in the form of the Pacific Airshow. Residents in this part of the world have been treated to a magnificent aerial pageant with a jet-powered spectacle of acrobatics and the excitement of sky diving in the skies over Surfers Paradise. 

Meanwhile, the AFL matches at nearby Carrara have been relegated to the status of a mere sideshow to the dare-devilry in the air although it should be said that the Casey Demons managed to get in on the act with their own crash dive when they were smashed by the Gold Coast Reserves by 88 points in a high-scoring shootout on Saturday.

The opening of the match at Peoples First Stadium saw an even battle between two teams going on all out attacking mode as they traded blow for blow and several changes of the lead. From Casey’s point of view, the players who stood out in the opening quarter were their best for the day. This year’s improver Andy Moniz-Wakefield had ten disposals for the term while Ben Brown and Shane McAdam scored two goals each.

The Suns led by a point at the first break and Ben Brown’s missed shot leveled proceedings in the first minute of the second quarter. The arm wrestling continued for another seven minutes by which time Ben added his third major and then slowly but surely the home team gained the ascendancy. They parlayed that into a 20 point half time advantage and then put on the afterburners with an 11 goal third term that literally blew the Demons out of the skies to that eventual 88-point final deficit. 

Gold Coast has great depth and is close to having a full list with some handy players possessing abundant AFL experience. The likes of Lukosius and Sexton (5 goals each) Atkins, Moyle and Fiorini had field days and particularly dictated the play in the second half mayhem. Casey, on the other hand, relied on far too few players to make an impact and the result was pretty inevitable. 

There’s always an exception to every rule and Andy Moniz-Wakefield marked his return to Casey after six games at AFL level and he was the side's leading disposal getter with 35 possessions to go with his nine marks and three tackles. He is one of the few in this team who could earn a promotion to take on the Magpies at the MCG on Friday night. 

For the rest of the AFL listed members of the team, it could be the end of some of their careers but most certainly, season’s end as the VFL enters its finals phase with Casey out of the picture having finished its 2024 season with only five wins and in 17th place (there are 21 teams).

As mentioned earlier, Ben Brown and Shane McAdam maintained their goal kicking throughout the game. Brown finished with 6.1 (ten touches and five marks while McAdam (12 disposals, six marks) was also dangerous up forward with four goals. 

Of the rest, they were well beaten apart from skipper Mitch White who worked hard as usual to pick up his 25 touches. 

The team was beaten in the ruck and this impacted on midfielders Kynan Brown (21 disposals, five clearances), Bailey Laurie (20, five) and Taj Woewodin (13, one goal) having limited effect on the game. Youngsters in Jed Adams, Matthew Jefferson, Luker Kentfield and Will Verrall were all quiet as their seasons slowly came to an end. 

It was a sombre ending for the team which two years ago celebrated a premiership but  on Saturday played out their season in front of empty stands with very few fans to watch their eventual crash landing.