STILL CONTENDERS by KC from Casey

The Casey Demons remain in contention for a VFL finals berth following a comprehensive 76-point victory over the Werribee Tigers at Whitten Oval last night. The caveat to the performance is that the once mighty Tigers have been raided of many key players and are now a shadow of the premiership-winning team from last season.

The team suffered a blow before the game when veteran Tom McDonald was withdrawn for senior duty to cover for Steven May who is ill.  However, after conceding the first goal of the game, Casey was dominant from ten minutes in until the very end and despite some early errors and inaccuracy, they managed to warm to the task of dismantling the Tigers with precision, particularly after half time when the nominally home side provided them with minimal resistance.

The experienced Jack Billings was in everything from the start to produce the stand out performance for his team as he amassed 30 disposals, seven marks, four clearances, also hitting the scoreboard with two goals. Likewise, former Brisbane Lion Harry Sharp booted two as he reacted to his omission from the Demons’ senior side with 23 touches, six tackles and six marks.

While Charlie Spargo and Bailey Laurie contributed to the team effort, the most pleasing aspect the perspective of the Melbourne-Casey partnership, was the form displayed by some of the younger players vying for senior positions.

Blake Howes made an outstanding return from the concussion he suffered on the Gold Coast a fortnight ago showing out with his athleticism on his way to a 26 disposal, 9 mark and 7 rebound 50s game. Jai Culley (26 touches, five tackles and five clearances) played possibly his best game since coming back from WA putting on a classy display in the midfield.

In the absence of Tom Campbell who was on standby for senior duty Will Verrall (19 disposals, 31 hitouts, eight clearances and a goal) underscored his improvement in the ruck while Kynan Brown and Taj Woewodin had 22 and 18 touches respectively.

A few other youngsters in Jed Adams, Luker Kentfield and Ricky Mentha jnr, while not as prominent also came under notice for their future potential. The livewire Mentha is coming along nicely and his three goals indicated that he will prove a real handful at senior level when his time comes.

For the second week in a row Mitch Hardie took on a starring role kicking four goals in the absence of the tall keys up forward. It could have been more but for a few misses but he kept the Tigers’ defenders on their toes for the whole night. Riley Bonner was his usual reliable self picking up 22 disposals and Noah Yze had some good moments although his kicking for goal was off target. He finished with just one goal from his four scoring attempts.

The team returns to Casey Fields next week for what could be a season defining game against Carlton VFL.

CASEY DEMONS 2.4.16 5.5.35 11.11.77 16.15.111

WERRIBEE 2.0.12 3.1.19 4.3.27 5.5.35

GOALS

CASEY DEMONS Hardie 4 Mentha 3 Billings Sharp 2 Ireland Kentfield Laurie Verrall Yze

WERRIBEE Wright 2 Dahlhaus GaronI Grintell

BEST

CASEY DEMONS Billings Hardie Verrall Sharp Culley Howes

WERRIBEE Brew Jeka Pinnuck Andrews Grintel Malual