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Easy win for an outclassed team on a Sunny day On a beautifully hot Sunday afternoon at an immaculate looking Casey Fields, the new Demons with a strong team outmatched a good opponent in Port Melbourne for a 17-8-108 to 10-4-64 win in the first VFL practice match for 2017. The boys started out very strong, with a good mark and goal in the pocket to Jack Watts, a snap around the corner from one of the Casey boys, as well as 5 more to be 7-1-42 to 0 at quarter time. Maybe due to the fact it was a preseason game and looking like an easy finish, Casey seemed to ease up around the contest and allowed a Port Melbourne midfield stacked with ex AFL and state league players to send the ball inside 50 and kick some good goals, as well as some sloppy errors in defence. An injury scare for Dean Kent after a nice smother in the forward pocket saw him leave the ground with shoulder soreness, but came back on before half time with some strapping to the elbow. After a longer then usual half time due to the heat, Port again came out strong in the 3rd quarter and for the most part won the contested ball from stoppages, but the Demons still kept fighting and thanks to a couple of late goals Casey where in front 12-4-77 to 10-3-63 coming into the final break. The boys finished the game strongly, maybe due to superior fitness but definitely due to better skills, the boys managed to get away in the last quarter. 2 very strong overhead marks to Keilty, one which turned into a goal 50m out dead in front, strong forward pressure from Garlett, Kent, Johnstone, a very strong tackle by our boy Tim 'Bull' Smith and good work from the midfielders allowed the game to be easily won. It wasn't all good news however, with less then 10 minutes to go Col Garland fell to the ground on the far side wing after a big contest, clutching at his left knee and screaming in agony that could be heard from across the ground, saw the game stop and he being stretched off to the worried murmurs of the supporters. They believe he hasn't done any crucial ligaments, however they estimate a 8-10 week recovery for the veteran. A decent hit out overall, with a lot of room for improvement. Could have won by 100 points if they turned it on in the 2nd and 3rd quarters. For the players (note every player seemed to play at minimum 3 quarters of game time, and no one being rested after half time) Watts: Good hitout. Seemed to slow up for the 2nd and 3rd quarter but was strong at the start and finish, took some good marks and kicked/set up a number of goals. Round 1 inclusion. Tyson: Played in the midfield all game, seemed a little below par to his normal game but that's expected when coming off injury, did well. Trengrove: The former captain did his job, I didn't think he was spectacular but had a very good hitout and did good work when pushing forward. Kent: In the best for sure. Round 1 lock I would say. J Smith: Was terrific running off the half back line. Looked unstoppable in the air and ran through to go inside 50 multiple times. If I was a team selector I would play him round 1 for sure. Pederson: In the best on ground as well. Took a massive mark on the forward 50, had some time in the ruck, played very strong, wouldn't dismiss for a round 1 spot. Jetta: Did okay, made a few sloppy errors but did well to stop the Port forwards from doing too much damage, maybe not playing round 1. Garland: Did well all game, a number of marks and spoils before his injury, hope he pulls through. Hulett: First time I've seen him play as defender and he just looked lost. Over ran the ball, misread the flight, didn't really have any good impact. McKenna: Had a surprisingly strong game. Lots of defending marks and good defensive pressure for a small backmen, really liked what I saw. With some more development he may turn into a great defender. Kennedy: Same as usual, was good around stoppages, did well. Garlett: Jeffy did what Jeffy does. Round 1. Hannan: Played a fair bit on the ball, where he did well. Flew a couple of times up forward but only held 1 I think, but a good start from the former Footscray forward. Johnstone: Not a lot of game time and played up the ground a little, didn't get a lot of the ball but did well whenever he did. Looking forward to watching him develop. T Smith: Typical Bull game. Took a couple of good grabs up forward, kicked/set up goals, and at one stage he tackled someone inside the forward 50 that made the ground shake. Did however miss a couple of goals uncharacteristically. Keilty: Struggled to get on the ground at times due to 10 on the bench and shorter quarters, but had a very good final term. Didn't get to be in his preferred position as a defender but the mark he took when he lead from the top of the square and leaped in the air and took the ball at its highest point in the middle of multiple defenders had me jumping from my seat. Filipovic: Did alright in the ruck against a very tall Port Melbourne ruckman, but the pace of the game got to him. He will learn but did well I thought. White/Maynard: Either didn't play or I just didn't notice their involvement. Casey Listed: Standouts for me were Hutchins in defence, Gent in the middle was very powerful, Ferreira did well as did Bailey and Baker in the forward pocket.

Jesus.. Demonland at its finest.. One bloke has a positive spin on the game and is lauded a champion. Another poster has a different view on the game and player and looks at it on a different point of view with bit more negative twist and demonland goes into meltdown and wants to hang the bloke. Is it hard for some to accept that not everyone will see things in the same light?

Full time Casey 17-6-108 to Port 10-4-64, strong last quarter but felt we could've been much further in front. Will do a full report when I get home.

Kent in everything early. Goal to Garlett. Watts doing some ruck work and looking sharp. Spencer won't play next week. Pedo involved. Replaces Weideman for me.

Yeah he came back on with his elbow strapped, he looks good to go.

Not for me, although the fact he singled out Watts for a whole paragraph and decided to focus on the negatives in a 50 point win speaks volumes. The best reports are the ones that give us both sides of the story, and I thought Drunkn did that well. Rangie, not so much.

If the Dogs can win a flag with Joel Hamling and Fletcher Roberts as key backs surely we can devise something to get us through until reinforcement are ready to come back!

Its all cool, We have Pedersen and Keilty.

Bad news for a heart and soul player. Make a speedy recovery Col.

Yep get Joel smith off the ground now, he has to be a lock now

Keilty has taken 2 huge grabs this final term, one which he converted to a goal

Sort of. Wouldn't risk Spencer at Etihad. Pedo and Watts to help in ruck duties.BTW,Trengove BOG atm. Just kicked a goal. Joel Smith excellent.

Just arrived at the ground. It's a beautifully sunny day here in Cranbourne and is slowly heating up, I don't envy the boys playing today as the sun has a fair bit of bite to it. Unfortunately the jumper numbers are a bit of a mess at the moment and without any sort of VFL record or team list I will struggle identifying players but I'll try my best.

Please don't tell people to settle down. Following a footy team should be fun - at least some of the time. Given the 10 years of utter garbage we've witnessed I think we're allowed to get a little carried away when our young talented core give us a little hope.

My heart breaks for him. The door was ajar for a spot round one and then this happens. The football gods can be very cruel.

Fair enough. ? Let me put it this way. Casey owned Port from the opening bounce and we should have gone on to finish the job but we didn't. This was particularly disappointing given the overrepresentation of Melbourne listed players today , particularly those with significant AFL experience. I don't believe we were switched on at all and regrettably I was able to see that first hand. The fact that is took a few of the Casey listed boys to get us back in the game says it all. Early, you raised a good question and provided insight. Plapp was rotating in blocks of 4 today but there was some considerable confusion as could be expected given the number of MFC listed players. Tyson (and Watts) were rested for long periods in the 2nd qtr, and I think Kennedy and Garlett were at some stage rotated. re: Watts - was receiving plenty of instruction and may have been playing it to the letter. If so, he was playing very,much outside which didn't seem to work. Almost bruise free footy. I cant speak so much regarding the third qtr. as I was on the other side of the ground. Goodwin was there and hovered during the breaks. He spent time with Watts so make of that what you will. Regarding my comments on Watts Blood, he is a fine young man and despite him having a pretty ordinary day out (by his standards) still humbly agreed to pose for pics with fans and their kids on the ground. I applaud that. He is a good team man but it doesn't mean he is any different to any other player & therefore should not be treated any differently? He is clearly a talented footballer who is struggling at present. I hope he has the mental strength to get through this period. If he does I believe he will be an even better footballer than what we saw in 2016.Were you there today? Nb: I apologise if I have offended anyone with my take on todays game.

I don't give a rats about his form at Casey, Watts is a LOCK for round 1 I'll put good money onit!

Reading this and your previous post about him, I doubt you'd have Watts on the list. Are you sure that you haven't got your anti Jack Watts glasses on and perhaps your preconceived opinion of Trengove? Going on your summary, I'm surprised we won, we did didn't we?

That lapse in the GWS game cost us. We must create our own luck to succeed. I hope I never find myself cheering on the filth again.

Season over Moana Hope is ridiculously overrated.

While not directly related to pay equality there is some meddling by the AFL that doesn't bode well. All AFLW player contracts were for one only year and will shortly expire so all players can move clubs, including marquis players. Also, it seems the AFL will mandate that 8 players need to be moved from each list - either traded or delisted. This just doesn't make sense to me as there are only 28 players on a list and each week a club fields 22 players (16+6 i/c) so effectively dropping at least 2 regular players. If they want to give more players a chance to play AFLW then make the lists bigger. 28 is ridiculously small - look at the decimation at Freo AFLW from injuries. And surely it isn't fair to delist players who after only one season have been injured or not settled enough to show their talents. The benefit of enforced high player turnover and one year contracts will only be for the powerful and wealthy clubs by them poaching talent with lucrative jobs at their club/sponsors or other promotional roles (which at this stage appear to be outside the AFL standard pay). So a club can use top draft picks, develop talent only to have them poached! There will be trades but we all know that a good player for a good draft pick are rarely equal Some promotional jobs are clearly legit (Pearce, Harris, Hope etc) but the high turnover and one year contracts just encourages 'jobs for the girls' designed simply to get a player to a club. The AFL should allow longer contracts so that a club can keep good players for a few years and stagger the end of contracts to reduce risk of losing a lot of talent all at once. The AFLW has the potential to be a fabulous competition. It won't be if AFL meddling, club politics and powerbrokers start exerting their might. Rant over...

I choose not to settle down. I plan to be excited. Not childish woo-woo we're gonna win everything excited, but piece by piece excited about the possibilities, the good players and good play building up to something. You wont catch me pulling my hair out every time there's a missed kick or a slipped tackle, and wailing about how it's 'all the same as 2013, nothing has improved'.

Whether people think it looks good or not, it is a revenue stream 16 other clubs have that we don't. Each week that passes loses value as the sponsor sees less and less 'airtime' so this can't be seen as anything but a disappointment to be March with no sponsor. PJ has enough runs on the board that I'll allow this and back his judgement- however, if Cam Schwab had us in this position people would be wanting blood not saying how classy the jumper looks....

Watts played 22 games in 2016, came 5th at B&F and had his contract extended for 3 years. I'll take those stats over 2 practice games.

What is disappointing is this happened a few years ago. If I remember right we had reach as our "sponsor" for some games. We should have companies jumping at the chance of riding a team on the rise. It's disturbing to day the least.

Hold your horses many gave Garland a slight chance to even play, hibbo did not play last year, frosty and Wagner are easyly covered, non of those player are overly important , beside hibbo non are first picked players

Some people simply cannot deal with anything negative about their heroes. Watts is not physical enough. Trengove is as slow as advancing lava. Let it go.

Unfortunately, negative. Jetta won't line up against the Saints. Spencer won't play either. This is the round 1 team: B: Melksham - O.Mac - Smith HB: Hunt - T.Mac - Vince C: Lewis - Viney - Salem HF: Petracca - Hogan - Kent FF: Garlett - Weideman - Watts FOLL: Gawn - Oliver - Jones INT: Stretch - Brayshaw - Tyson - Bugg EMG: Harmes - Spencer - Trengove

And if not them then Watts will easily out-body a full-forward. As will Garlett. Garlett is seriouuusssly underrated as a full-back.

Thanks for taking the time to make the match reports guys. Much appreciated.

Great summary, cheers

Riewoldt is playing up the ground as part of their succession plan. Believe me if he was 22 yo he would be playing where he was when he was that age...key position forward. Same as what Hogan will be doing for us now. Richardson would think Christmas had come early if we matched Hogan up on Riewoldt...

I feel sick in the stomach whenever any Demon suffers a serious injury. Wishing Col a speedy and complete recovery.

Brown is nothing special the Pies let him go in a similar way we didn't make much effort to keep Dunn (ironically they then picked Dunn up)

It doesn't look ridiculous aesthetically (some might say it even looks better without a logo there). But there's no doubt it looks bad without one there. The perception/signal it sends is certainly not one of positivity. My hope is we have something to announce this week.

Ignoring any injury concerns, I'd have Tyson, Watts, Garlett, Kent, Pederson has been great, J Smith has had a lot of the ball and created a lot of run off half back, and Jetta.

So, what's different?

Wow, quite a diatribe about a guy before round 1.

How's this for a missed opportunity? If the Crows hadn't kicked those two late goals last week, we'd already be ahead of them on percentage. Currently: Dees / points for: 258 / points against: 183 / % = 141.0 Crows / points for: 221 / points against: 139 / % = 159.0 Take those two goals off our points against and their points for, you get: Dees / pf: 258 / pa: 171 / %: 150.9 Crows / pf: 209 / pa: 139 / %: 150.4 Obviously the GWS game is the real missed opportunity, we could have the GF spot wrapped up already. But jeez, if we miss, we're going to miss by such a fine margin.

Very impressive win. Some of the link-up play through the middle of the ground was outstanding. I just love the way Cranston plays in straight lines and follows it up with thinking and skill. I am still surprised how much I enjoy the AFLW and how quickly I adopted them as an official Dees team.

Found out this afternoon that we're having a girl. Due date is the first week of finals but will sign her up by Monday!

As a long time observer and supporter of Jack, I've followed this discussion with some interest. The vitriol which he attracts is remarkable given the loyalty he has shown and the contribution he has made through all the darkest times. Like many correspondents, I find it hard to understand what the coaches had in mind when they felt it necesary to embarrass him publicly over the last couple of months. In any school of management, this would be frowned upon. However, I don't pretend to know what works fro footy coaches, just what doesn't work in the outside world. Last year, the footy department thought he was in our best five players in 2016. Apparently something has since happened to cause them to feel it necessary to manage it in the way they have. To me, it's still a mystery. Regardless, over the years , I have seen Jack repeatedly find space on the field and be ignored. Why are our players not instructed to look for his leads given that he is one of (if not the best) of our converters? I can only think there must be more to this than has been said but, for the life of me, I can't see what it is. If this is an attempt to instil some 'mongrel' into him, so be it. If it doesn't happen then, all I can say is that the coaches' approach was wrong. A good mate once said to me 'there's no such thing as a bad player, just bad coaches'. I hope the JW experiment confirms this to be the case and Jack can attain whatever aspirations the coaches have for him. If not, Jack might be better off looking elsewhere for coaches that will help him to realise his unbelievable potential. They will be queueing up, I suspect. I will be very sad to see it.

This sentence is more temporally confusing than Terminator Genysis.

No, because it was started to cause angst. That said there is no doubt the women players should be paid more. As much as men? Of course not, but as someone noted no one is arguing they should. But most definetley much more than the paltry 10k the average players get now. Look at the injury rate. Do an ACL and there goes your job as, say landscape gardener or tennis coach. The competition has exceeded all expectations - even the most positive. Look at the pressure Geelong is putting on the AFL to get a licence. What does that tell you. It says clubs do not want to miss out on what will clearly become a huge revenue stream. The AFL now need to invest in player payments to ensure the talant remains on the park and continues to improve The 10k they are bing paid was based on a guess about how things would go. Well it rates and the sposers are rollingin. there is enough money to play the women properly and ensure they can train throughout the year.

Wells got a call from a club official to tell him he was a Carlton player. He knew nothing about the backroom dealings at all according to him. We sold him off for the transfer money as I remember it.

This isn't something that is being discussed anywhere other than in threads started by insecure trolls.

Another reason to love Elise O'Dea. Cat Phillips takes a very good contested mark in the middle of the ground & is wondering what to do. While everyone else rests & watches, O'Dea sprints from half-back, runs past Cat who handballs in front of her. By the time she meets the ball and picks it up she's sprinted a good 50 metres, late in the game. She tries to sidestep an opponent (was it Chelsea Randall?) then realises she doesn't have the strength in her legs to take off, so has to kick it quickly. But she manages to get enough distance on the kick from tired legs to get it out the back of the contest between Aliesha Newman & Angie Foley (Foley who'd brilliantly outmarked Daisy in the goal square earlier that quarter). This allowed Newman to get out the back and hit the ball at speed and she was good enough to do the rest. If O'Dea was happy to sit back & watch like everyone else, it might not have gone anywhere near goal. It was fantastic play by Newman to get the opportunist goal that Jeffy would have been proud of, but equally great lead-up play by O'Dea to get it to her. All this emphasises your point, CBDs. It's not just a matter of scrambling it forward and then scrapping a goal. Many of the passages of play, at all parts of the ground, are extremely good and would do credit to any team. The improvement in just half a dozen games is, as you say, amazing.

The AFL gave away the TV rights for zip for 2 years! Yes, zip! Channel 7 is getting record viewing audiences - at times well above AFL games and is making squillions from advertisers. The AFL and AFLW get not one brass razoo! Not even from the Grand Final!! If the AFL are dumb enough to do that, it is no reason why the players should wear the cost. I'm not suggesting equal pay or anything like it, just noting that the AFL have played this badly. There are also are direct financial benefits to the AFL eg 1. the Brisbane Lions has for years tried to get government funding for new facilities with zero results. Now with the AFLW team the Qld government is literally throwing money at the Lions and can't wait to build new facilities with a boutique stadium attached. http://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/womens-afl/the-ladies-have-it-queensland-government-keen-to-invest-in-new-facilities-for-lions-because-of-aflw/news-story/64dad464744125c2d3073bc17fa9ac95. This saves the AFL having to foot the bill. And, it enable the AFL Brisbane Lions, with elite facilities, to be a more attractive club to male players and have a better chance of keeping their young talent. 2. And from a demons viewpoint. I just love seeing the NAB ads during games which feature Daisy and kids (a little boy in a supermarket and a little girl who kicks a goal) that are decked out in Melbourne gear. I reckon a lot more kids will be going to their school 'wear your footy jumper day' in the red and blue. Many will have #6 on the back and I doubt it will be for Lewis. The spinoffs from this exposure cannot be measured in dollars and cents but it makes me more proud to be a Demon supporter and to encourage people to take out a membership. Again not suggestion equal pay, just saying that the Brisbane and Demons exposure are examples of a direct financial benefit to AFL teams, so looking only at what AFLW 'pulls in' doesn't give the real picture.