SUNSTROKE by KC from Casey

Coming off four consecutive victories and with a team filled with 17 AFL listed players, the Casey Demons took to their early morning encounter with the lowly Gold Coast Suns at People First Stadium with the swagger of a team that thought a win was inevitable.

They were smashing it for the first twenty minutes of the game after Tom Fullarton booted the first two goals but they then descended into an abyss of frustrating poor form and lackadaisical effort that saw the swagger and the early arrogance disappear by quarter time when their lead was overtaken by a more intense and committed opponent.

The Suns continued to apply the pressure in the second quarter and got out to a three goal lead in mid term before the Demons fought back. A late goal to the home side before the half time bell saw them ten points up at the break and another surge in the third quarter saw them comfortably up with a 23 point lead at the final break.

The Demons mounted a few spirited attacks in the final quarter, getting tantalizingly close before blowing some late chances that left them lamenting a nine point loss.

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I will kick things off by saying again that imports in Mitch Hardie (28 possessions, 6 tackles and a goal), Riley Bonner (34 touches) and Riley Baldi (19 disposals) were outstanding again but the team missed the goal sense of Paddy Cross who is out with a hamstring injury.

Apart from Tom Campbell who had a great battle in the ruck with his Suns counterpart in Ned Moyle, the AFL listed players were not consistently in the play throughout the morning.

The best you could say was that Jack Billings was solid with 23 disposals and three handy goals that almost got the team to victory and Jai Culley was strong with his 17 disposals, eight tackles and a goal late in the match. Ricky Mentha showed some spark, particularly early in the game and looks a player worth persevering with for the future. He and Caleb Windsor each picked up 17 touches and added some much needed toe when it was needed. Another who showed promise was Luker Kentfield with three goals from some solid marking. Jacob van Rooyen flashed in with some smart play in the forward line.

For the life of me, I don’t understand how or why Will Verrall was sparingly used after his improved form before the bye. He appeared to be doing some work after the game with the training staff but his story remains a mystery.

The team had a great defence on paper but it was not enough to put sufficient pressure on an inexperienced looking Gold Coast attack and hence the locals were victorious with a 15 goal 7 behind score line.

It’s a must win next week against Coburg when the team finally returns to Casey Fields on Sunday afternoon at roughly the same time when the AFL Demons play in Adelaide.

CASEY DEMONS 2.2.14 4.5.29 8.6.54 13.10.88

GOLD COAST SUNS VFL 3.1.19 6.3.39 12.5.77 15.7.97

GOALS

CASEY DEMONS Billings Kentfield 3 Fullarton 2 Craven Culley Hardie Laurie van Rooyen

GOLD COAST SUNS VFL Evans 3 Jepson Moyle 2 Beikoff-Smart Davies Enders Gulbin Harris O'Brien Rosas Swallow

BEST

CASEY DEMONS Billings Culley Hardie van Rooyen Mentha Henderson

GOLD COAST SUNS VFL Moyle Lemmens Swallow Beikoff-Smart Davies Evans