LEAPFROG by KC from Casey

Posted August 17Aug 17

The Casey Demons ended the regular season on a positive note and gained substantial momentum leading into the finals when they knocked the Box Hill Hawks off the top of the VFL ladder in their final round clash at Casey Fields. More importantly, they moved out of a wild card position in the finals race and secured a week's rest as they leapfrogged up the ladder into fifth place with their decisive 23-point victory over the team that had been the dominant force in the competition for most of the season.

The Demons spent a significant portion of the season outside of finals contention, and after eight rounds, were in 17th position. They regrouped with some good victories but then suffered a couple of mid-season setbacks due to the same rash of inaccurate shooting for goal that was affecting the AFL side. They lost a winnable game on the Gold Coast and suddenly found themselves back in 13th place after their last-minute single-point loss to Coburg in Round 15. Then came the resurgence.

A massive win over former powerhouse Werribee saw them jump into tenth place, and as other contenders fell by the wayside, they consolidated and held onto eighth spot with one game to go. The final round was Bradburyesque as, one by one, the teams above fell. Collingwood dropped their game to lowly Port Melbourne, the Brisbane Lions could only eke out a draw after Frankston goalled on the siren and a desperate Williamstown earned a wild card final when they beat Richmond. The Casey win was icing on the cake — voila, the Demons were in fifth position!

It was a hard earned victory. After a frenetic Casey start that saw livewire Ricky Mentha Junior in everything with five early touches and a goal, Box Hill took charge to lead by 17 points at the first break. The momentum swung in the home team’s favour but it was let down by its usual problems in front of goal. The Hawks’ Ned Reeves was shading Tom Campbell and Will Verrall in the ruck but Casey’s Jack Billings, Riley Bonner, Charlie Spargo and Bailey Laurie were winning most of the ground balls. Billings had a massive 26 disposals by half time, at which stage the visitors held a seven point lead.

From there on, it was all Casey with Campbell getting on top of Reeves as the Demon on ballers made all of the running. The defence led by Tom Fullarton and Jed Adams, supported by veteran Tom Freeman and the athletic Wardell Lual was impassable. The forwards shared the goals - at one stage they had ten goals all kicked by different players. Young forward Luker Kentfield only managed six touches but kicked a game-high three goals.

The Demons went into the final term with a lead of 19 points which soon moved out beyond the four goal mark and in the end, they defended the lead well without taking too many risks to finish 23 points in front at the final siren.

Veteran players Billings (40 disposals, seven marks, six tackles, five clearances, one goal) and Bonner (38 possessions, 7 inside 50s and a goal) were outstanding all day and finished with leather poisoning while Koltyn Tholstrup, Laurie, Kynan Brown, Spargo and Taj Woewodin were all busy on the day. Melbourne’s NGA Draft prospect Toby SInnema had his first run at this level and was impressive in the second half to finish with 15 touches.

And so, after 21 rounds including three byes, the Demons have earned yet another week off work as they prepare for their elimination final in a fortnight’s time.