20 hours ago, DubDee said:

Great effort from the boys, scratchy at times but understandable

You could see the new brand King is trying to bring in and it leads to exciting attacking footy!!

Pickett looked like he was going at 70% and was BOG by a mile. Best player in the league.

Howes, Steele, Kentfield, JVR all played well. I reckon Sharp played well too, I had given up on him but with his running power, the new game style might give him opportunities if he can realise his limitations.

Mihocek is a broad, big unit and will have a big impact on us this year.

If he keeps getting kneed in the back of the head by poor delivery, he won't.

27 minutes ago, dazzledavey36 said:

Tell me to let it go lol.. I was literally responding to your "Snarkiness" response 👍

Once again you come off being overly sensitive over the smallest things.

Whatever, dude. I ask a question. I was hoping for more than a bleeding obvious answer and some microaggression. But you do you.

There were distinct similarities in game styles with Vic’s game against WA. The Scott / King connection.

1 hour ago, Deestar9 said:

no wind

its normally blowing a gale out there

1 hour ago, Ghostwriter said:

He did play for Casey. I only saw the last 15 minutes of the match but was told he went well.

Thanks Ghostwriter how did the Sausage Sizzle go, looked like a good crowd at Casey and most would have been very happy.👍😁

42 minutes ago, Demonstone said:

Has this thread jumped the snark?

Of course not. We're 2nd on the Preseason Ladder.

Team	W	L	D	F	A	%	PTS
ST KILDA	1	0	0	107	36	297.22	4
MELBOURNE	1	0	0	135	49	275.51	4
ESSENDON	1	0	0	118	68	173.53	4
FREMANTLE	1	0	0	81	53	152.83	4
SYDNEY SWANS	1	0	0	99	66	150.00	4
GWS GIANTS	1	0	0	104	75	138.67	4
ADELAIDE	1	0	0	94	75	125.33	4
HAWTHORN	1	0	0	111	94	118.09	4
CARLTON	1	0	0	103	88	117.05	4
BRISBANE LIONS	0	1	0	88	103	85.44	0
GEELONG	0	1	0	94	111	84.68	0
PORT ADELAIDE	0	1	0	75	94	79.79	0
COLLINGWOOD	0	1	0	75	104	72.16	0
W. BULLDOGS	0	1	0	66	99	66.67	0
WEST COAST	0	0	0	53	81	65.43	0
RICHMOND	0	1	0	68	118	57.63	0
N. MELBOURNE	0	1	0	49	135	36.3	0
GOLD COAST	0	1	0	36	107	33.64	0

9 minutes ago, Demonland said:

Of course not. We're 2nd on the Preseason Ladder.

Team	W	L	D	F	A	%	PTS
ST KILDA	1	0	0	107	36	297.22	4
MELBOURNE	1	0	0	135	49	275.51	4
ESSENDON	1	0	0	118	68	173.53	4
FREMANTLE	1	0	0	81	53	152.83	4
SYDNEY SWANS	1	0	0	99	66	150.00	4
GWS GIANTS	1	0	0	104	75	138.67	4
ADELAIDE	1	0	0	94	75	125.33	4
HAWTHORN	1	0	0	111	94	118.09	4
CARLTON	1	0	0	103	88	117.05	4
BRISBANE LIONS	0	1	0	88	103	85.44	0
GEELONG	0	1	0	94	111	84.68	0
PORT ADELAIDE	0	1	0	75	94	79.79	0
COLLINGWOOD	0	1	0	75	104	72.16	0
W. BULLDOGS	0	1	0	66	99	66.67	0
WEST COAST	0	0	0	53	81	65.43	0
RICHMOND	0	1	0	68	118	57.63	0
N. MELBOURNE	0	1	0	49	135	36.3	0
GOLD COAST	0	1	0	36	107	33.64	0

Plus pick 1 from Gold Coast.

MELBOURNE

Result: 80-point win over North Melbourne (129-49)

What we learned: Dees fans would be going into 2026 with more optimism after a dominant 80-point win over North Melbourne in Casey in a game the Pickett cousins put on a show. Melbourne unofficially kicked off the Steven King era on a high note and a preview into some exciting footy to come this season. The Dees played a more daring brand where they looked to move the ball quickly at just about every opportunity and embraced a more chaotic style. It saw Kysaiah Pickett thrive in a five-goal masterclass as the best player on the ground, splitting his time between midfield and forward. “That run and gun through the middle with Pickett – he’s just so quick with ball in hand. And not only is he quick, but he can execute a kick on the run like that. It’s such a great asset for them to use him through that middle of the ground,” Carlton AFLW player Harriet Cordner praised on Kayo Sports commentary. His cousin, Latrelle Pickett, also had some dazzling moments that would’ve got Demons fans seriously excited. More of that from the Pickett cousins in 2026, please! Elsewhere, Jack Steele delivered a strong performance in the midfield in his first showing for Melbourne, while Brody Mihocek kicked the first two goals for Melbourne before his day ended prematurely due to concussion and 2024 mid-season recruit Luker Kentfield kicked three wearing a ‘Batman’ mask.

They're excited in the Club media team; the 'Kozzy 5 goals' video is posted 3 times!

What I took out of Yesterday’s game, was that our new Coach has been able to implement a new Gameplan within a matter of weeks, that the players are obviously all on board with.

Something our previous Coach could not do over 4 Seasons

It stood out like Dogs Balls

50 minutes ago, Timothy Reddan-A'Blew said:

They're excited in the Club media team; the 'Kozzy 5 goals' video is posted 3 times!

Yet the videos only show 3 of his goals 😅

2 hours ago, Go Ds said:

Whatever, dude. I ask a question. I was hoping for more than a bleeding obvious answer and some microaggression. But you do you.

Pro tip: Give up. Take it from someone who knows… it’s so not worth the grief.

2 hours ago, DeeZone said:

Thanks Ghostwriter how did the Sausage Sizzle go, looked like a good crowd at Casey and most would have been very happy.👍😁

We cleaned up! We had a steady flow of customers and we weren’t left with much unsold stock.

We were packing/cleaning up during the second match and I went and rounded up any groups of (ideally large) teenage boys and we offloaded most of the remaining food and bottles of water 😁

We found a woman who has five sons so we gave her several loaves of Baker’s Delight bread to take home. Turns out she’s Nancy Cross, mum of Paddy.

I also found the Mentha clan and talked them into a snag feast. Ricky’s brother Gaylon is a man-mountain but dropped the ball on this occasion… he only ate one!

Edited yesterday at 08:031 day by Ghostwriter

1 minute ago, Ghostwriter said:

We cleaned up! We had a steady flow of customers and we weren’t left with much unsold stock.

We were packing/cleaning up during the second match and I went and rounded up any groups of (ideally large) teenage boys and we offloaded most of the remaining food and bottles of water 😁

We found a woman who has five sons so we gave her several loaves of Baker’s Delight bread to take home. Turns out she’s Nancy Cross, mum of Paddy.

Good on you Ghostwriter and the Demon Army, you always do the hard yards Ghosty the kids would have loved cleaning up the left overs.

pS( How good was Luker Kentfield, Moose and Latrelle yesterday they looked very sharp and fitted into the side seamlessly.)

12 minutes ago, Ghostwriter said:

Pro tip: Give up. Take it from someone who knows… it’s so not worth the grief.

I agree wholeheartedly. I don't know why anyone wants to be aggressive on here or even knock someone for what they perceive to be a stupid question. Then again I saw this kind of stuff on forums before actual social media really existed more than 20 years ago.

I can't remember every detail about Kentfield. I've obviously been preoccupied with much bigger events in my own life. The main thing I remember about Luker was that despite an interrupted pre-season last year he sounded really promising in the reserves. I can't remember his facial injury. Geez, most people don't remember what they had for dinner last night let alone what happens in the preseason to 40 something players. Anyway I'm just thrilled that we got through our first test ....and with flying colours. Bellissimo!

How did Casey go, did Ah Mu play?

Yeah anyone got a Casey report?

2 minutes ago, DeeZone said:

Good on you Ghostwriter and the Demon Army, you always do the hard yards Ghosty the kids would have loved cleaning up the left overs.

pS( How good was Luker Kentfield, Moose and Latrelle yesterday they looked very sharp and fitted into the side seamlessly.)

Thank you DZ.

I only got to watch the final 15 minutes or so of the Casey match which shows how busy we were, but I watched the replay today and I’m very happy with what I saw.

I’m so proud of my boy Luker. His on-field qualities complement his great off-field qualities. He’s an absolute delight off-field, he takes everything in his stride, even wearing the mask doesn’t bother him. He said playing with it is no different to playing without it. And he doesn’t dramatise anything, quite the opposite… he was gravely ill 14 months ago but he doesn’t think it was so big a deal. He sees it as I was unwell and now I’m well again. Watching him develop as a player and a person is a joy.

10 hours ago, Macca said:

You did offer up those figures as an outcome scenario. Worded in a way where that outcome is likely

No.

It was a thread covering predictions for the year, where there were lots of "it's not about wins and losses" posts where people were being up-beat about accepting losses. I was making the point that it's easy to speak of accepting losses in the off-season, but let's see how sanguine people are if those losses mount, e.g. if we were 0 6.

I have no idea how we'll do this year, there are too many unknowns. But there will be losses.

35 minutes ago, adonski said:

Yeah anyone got a Casey report?

I only saw the end of this match so this isn’t a match report, it’s just two things I wanna point out.

The match should’ve been called off halfway through the third last quarter. The light was so poor. The lights were on but they weren’t anywhere near adequate.

Secondly, nobody needs to be told what sort of a captain Max is, we all know already so this comes as no surprise… he was there for the Casey game - as were some of the other senior players - but he would regularly come down to the bench to encourage the Casey boys and he stopped for fans to get selfies and signatures. He looked really tired but he indulged the fans nonetheless.

When are we aiming to play finals people? With our list demographic and all the new components, it feels to me like a 2028 proposition. Looking forward to seeing our development in the intervening years. I don't care where we finish on the ladder this year - in fact, the lower the better so long as we see some development. Also looking forward to seeing who we draft next year. That should be the icing on the cake of our next tilt. We will know more after the next praccie.

1 hour ago, Go Ds said:

I can't remember every detail about Kentfield

I believe he got a micro fractured under his eye socket at Casey in a training incident, a few weeks ago.

I know he forget his mask at last Wednesdays training, and couldn't compete in the contact drills.

Melksham played VFL

https://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/1959428/vfl-report-dees-tick-off-first-practice-match

Sounds like Matthews played well

IN THREE terms at Casey Fields, the Demons have put in their first test against opposition for the 2026 VFL pre-season.

After four quarters of AFL, the VFL sides returned to the field for a practice match on Friday.

Among Casey’s VFL players were 10 AFL-listed Demons including Jake Melksham, Christian Salem, Harry Sharp, Ricky Mentha Jnr, Oscar Berry, Xavier Taylor, Luker Kentfield, Tom Matthews and Riley Onley.

It was a tight contest for the duration of the three terms, with momentum swings creating a number of lead changes throughout.

The Demons saw signs of impressive plays across the ground as they look to build further connection among the group in the lead up to Round 1.  

Kentfield featured in the first term having put in a solid performance during the previous AFL game, getting an early call-up following Brody Mihocek’s sidelining with concussion.

During the earlier AFL match, Kentfield kicked three goals while supporting Max Heath in the ruck. It would be fair to assume that after that type of display, he was done for the day, but the youngster pushed through to the VFL match, adding another goal to his tally.

Young Demon Matthews showed moments of excitement, the 18-year-old kicking two goals and wowing the crowd with a spectacular speccy that saw him sit atop a pack of players.

Fellow draftee Riley Onley got among the goal-kicking action, booting a whopping score from the arc, while VFL-listed Demons Brayden Laplanche and Tairon Ah-Mu impressed with two goals apiece.  

Casey will now turn its focus to next week’s second practice match against Richmond, taking place at Casey Fields on Saturday 28 February at 11am.

CASEY DEMONS                     5.1    7.2    12.5 (77)
NORTH MELBOURNE             3.2.   8.7   11.12 (78)

GOALS
Casey Demons: 2 Matthews, Laplanche, Ah-Mu, 1 Bowden, Cross, Cheffers, Sharp, Onley, Kentfield

45 minutes ago, bing181 said:

I have no idea how we'll do this year, there are too many ununknowns

Putting the coaching aside, I reckon that the reason that we only won 7 games last year was because of the deadwood & non team players that influenced the side so much. A huge distraction on game days

Many here (and elsewhere) zeroed in on the Coach (and that's fair enough) but a few here were more looking at the make-up of the team and the old habits that couldn't be shaken

At last count there were at least 6 players on the list that went off the rails, post the premiership. That's 6 too many when often there's not even one player who bucks the system at a club. And that's the ones we know about

• 2 guilty at a restaurant (amongst numerous other indiscretions by 1 of the 2)

• A wingman from another club who was a bad influence

• A utility forward who went rogue

• And the much discussed 2 mids with their numerous issues

Outside our control was the loss of ANB, Gus & Luke Jackson

With all that going on, it's any wonder that we lost our way

As good as the premiership was, things started to go pear-shaped not long after

Players like Windsor, Kolt, Langford & Lindsay must have wondered what was going on, upon entering the club.

By contrast, Steele, CJ, Heath, Mihocek, Taylor & Latrelle have entered the club with a new regime in charge. Trouble has exited the building

But even so, the senior players need to lift and to lead the way. Without that happening, we could become too reliant on the youngsters, too soon

The kids that we've recruited in deserve a proper foundation

Edited 23 hours ago23 hr by Macca

28 minutes ago, DeedleDumb said:

When are we aiming to play finals people? With our list demographic and all the new components, it feels to me like a 2028 proposition. Looking forward to seeing our development in the intervening years. I don't care where we finish on the ladder this year - in fact, the lower the better so long as we see some development. Also looking forward to seeing who we draft next year. That should be the icing on the cake of our next tilt. We will know more after the next praccie.

I think it’s definitely feasible with a few big names brought in. I think we need a good couple of seasons (between 8-12) for players to see us as a club that they could do well at and have fun at. I think this year if we could get to 12/13 that’s a win, and next year between 8-10 would be great. Whether or not those are possible is unknown yet but that’s what I think we need for key players to look at us as destination club.