ROAD KILL by KC from Casey

The Casey Demons travelled to a windy Cramer Street, Preston yesterday and blew the Northern Bullants off the ground for three quarters before shutting up shop in the final term, coasting to a much-needed 71-point victory after leading by almost 15 goals at one stage.

It was a pleasing performance that revived the Demons’ prospects for the 2025 season but, at the same time, very little can be taken from the game because of the weak opposition.

These days, the Bullants are little more than road kill. The once proud club, situated behind the Preston Market in a now culturally diverse area, is currently facing significant financial and on-field challenges, having failed to secure a win to date in 2025.

This particular match drew a modest crowd, and the atmosphere was markedly different from the club's heyday in the 1960s to 1980s, when the ground was consistently filled to capacity with enthusiastic local supporters. Recent affiliations with the Northern Knights and Carlton AFL have been met with discomfort, resulting in a substantial decline in the club's fortunes. Furthermore, a recent board upheaval led to the appointment of a new club president, who has pledged to implement changes, including a rebranding initiative that will see the club revert to its original name, the Preston Football Club, in 2026.

Against this backdrop, the Casey Demons arrived with a team of 16 AFL affiliated players and the remaining handful of VFL-listers in good form. They smelt blood and smashed the home side mercilessly starting in the ruck where Tom Campbell amassed 30 hitouts to go with his 23 disposals, nine clearances and a goal. He combined with rising understudy Will Verrall who managed 28 hitouts, 17 touches and nine clearances.

With that level of might in the boiler room, the on ball division couldn’t help but to fire up in a big way. For the Demons, Jack Billings led the way with 31 disposals, eight marks and a goal and Bailey Laurie managed 26 possessions and two goals. Taj Woewodin was also busy with 21 possessions and a goal while Kynan Brownpicked up 19 disposals and 4 tackles while Jack Henderson laid a game-high 10 tackles to go with his 15 touches of the football. Jai Culley was used sparingly as he was on standby as an emergency for the AFL team and only saw one half of the action, still getting his hands on the football ten times.

A trio of VFL listed players who have lifted the club all season in Riley Bonner, Mitch Hardie and Riley Baldi all stood out in Casey’s impressive victory with 34, 31 and 24 disposals respectively and they were joined by 19 year old Tyson Sruk from the Eastern Ranges Coates Talent League who impressed with 21 touches and a goal on debut.

But the big story of the day was the key forwards with Matt Jefferson starring with five goals on the strength of a much improved performance in the air and on the ground, capably assisted by Tom Fullarton with three goals and Jacob van Rooyen who booted two but impressed with his efforts around the forward line amassing 13 marks

Blake Howes and Oliver Sestan were also prominent and continued their impressive form of recent weeks as they wait on a call into AFL ranks. Jed Adams did some nice work in defence while Koltyn Tholstrup, Luker Kentfield and Ricky Mentha all contributed.

CASEY DEMONS 5.8.38 8.11.59 13.17.85 17.19.121

NORTHERN BULLANTS 0.2.2 1.4.10 1.5.11 7.8.50

GOALS

CASEY DEMONS Jefferson 5 Fullarton 3 Laurie van Rooyen 2 Billings Campbell Henderson Sruk Woewodin

NORTHERN BULLANTS Andrew Jorgensen 2 Mackie Schreiber Vellisaris

BEST

CASEY DEMONS Bonner Billings Campbell Hardie Jefferson van Rooyen

NORTHERN BULLANTS Hamilton Velissaris Andrew Mackie Coghlan Schreiber

Statistics