DRAW by KC from Casey

The Casey Demons squandered a perfect opportunity to draw first blood with some wayward kicking for goal in their opening round of the Smithy’s VFL competition for 2025. 

They managed just two goals from eleven scoring shots, not all under pressure, in the opening term which was an indictment on the overall team effort and a recipe for disaster.

As a consequence, North Melbourne was able to remain involved in an arm wrestle with Casey throughout the rest of their match and threatened to take all the premiership points on offer when they kicked four straight unanswered goals from time on in the third quarter until five minutes into the last.

Fortunately for Casey, it was not done yet and the team courageously fought its way back into the game with goals to youngsters Chance Doultree and Noah Yze before Tyler Edwards levelled things up. North responded with a goal but Tom Fullarton kicked his second goal with a minute or so to go to give the home side a 1 point lead. The Kangaroos surged forward for a point and a late snap went out of bounds on the full. Siren. Draw.

The Demons’ best player was Riley Baldi who was at the club a few years ago and went to play with Moe where he won the Gippsland League medal and was acknowledged at No 5 in a list of last year's best 50 country footballers. He has come back a much stronger player and was instrumental with 32 disposals, ten clearances and six tackles. Along with former St Kilda and Port Adelaide defender Riley Bonner (35 disposals, seven marks and four clearances) they have added a point of difference to the Casey that languished so badly last year. Tall forward Caleb Lewis who was seldom seen last year showed improvement up forward with two goals.

It's been a long time since Casey had a winning ruck and the acquisition by Melbourne of Tom Campbell marked a substantial change for this game with his 28 hit outs to go with his 23 disposals (5 marks). He worked well with the club’s number six AFL Draft selection Harvey Langford who got better as the game went on and his impressive figures of 23 disposals and a goal (five clearances) including some strong work to set up attack should give him a look in at senior selection this week. Another who might come close to selection is Fullarton who was dangerous around goal and should have kicked more than his two for the day. Bailey Laurie played well given his limited time on the ground, presumably due to being on call for the main game.

Playing a draw in your first game is a neither here nor there start to a season but Casey does have a lot of talent to come into the side, especially if the AFL injury list can be contained and also with the return of Mitch Hardie and Roy George who missed this week.

Next week presents an early Saturday morning challenge when the Demons return to Casey Fields to take on the Gold Coast Suns who have been strong in recent years and should provide another test of the team’s improvement.

CASEY DEMONS 2.9.21 3.11.29 6.13.49 10.16.76

NORTH MELBOURNE VFL 2.2.14 4.4.28 7.7.49 11.10.76

GOALS

CASEY DEMONS Fullarton Lewis 2 Campbell Craven Doultree Edwards Langford Yze

NORTH MELBOURNE VFL Duursma Maley 2 Butler Downie Ford Harvey Stevens Tarrant Teakle

BEST

CASEY DEMONS Baldi Fullarton Bonner Campbell Gregory Windsor

NORTH MELBOURNE VFL Fisher Tomlinson Butler Macpherson Maley Whitlock

STATISTICS