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The entire team came to run along the boundary high-fiving after the match. Ricky Lever though! He went rogue, ran ahead of the others, let loose with a guttural scream that lasted for ages, excitedly waving his arms, absolutely whipping us into a frenzy. It was nuts!!!

Another win, another enjoying Sunday. A pies fan ( I never thought I could hate anything this much) said to me last night you fell in with that one. My answer yep like the ten games you fell in last year including the GF and we didn’t have to end a players career to do it. [censored]! Enough. I am enjoying this win till at least Wednesday.

He’s absolutely the greatest ruckman since Cox. The debate is really how he compares with Cox. This is from a Hawks supporter on Bigfooty. I echo these sentiments: ‘Gawn is the best ruckman ever.... Up there with Polly. Definitely the best in my time of watching the footy. Better than Madden. Better than Stynes. Better than Cox. It's just incredible to see someone 209cm tall who thinks so quickly on his feet and uses his hands so skilfully to win the contested ball and get it over to Petracca, Oliver, Viney, etc with clever handballs and tap ons. He is a unicorn. Weird thing to say about a 6-time All Australian & premiership captain, but I still don't think people really appreciate just how good he is. Taken for granted, I think. His brilliant play isn't eye-popping like a Naitanui. He is just a natural footballer who provides a steady stream of excellence for the Dees. Great endurance running too, to get up and down the ground like he does. Works his [censored] off. You don't notice his running like the quick 198cm-200cm guys, but he is a hell of an athlete. Fit as f**k. 32 years old and still blowing up his younger adversaries. Runs up and down the ground and racks up the disposals like Dean Cox Always get the first hand to the ball for the hitout and provides his mids with an armchair ride... just like Aaron Sandilands. Gives his team a 4th midfielder in the centre square clearance battles... just like Nick Naitanui Controls games with big pack marks across half back line.... just like Jimmy Stynes Goes forward and takes huge marks inside fifty and kicks goals... just like Simon Madden He's got the lot! Just always involved in the action like no ruckman I've ever seen.‘

He turned around to the crowd and told them to F off after he kicked his last goal Worth the fine. We salute you Fritta 🫡

That was one of the great wins. Made more remarkable by watching some sort of mirror footy game. One team dominated territory, clearnces and inside 50s. But often entering into a crowded fifty and missing key chances. Not taking full advantage of momentum. The other team staying in the game absorbing pressure in the back half,entering into an open forward line and taking key chances. Taking full advantage of momentum. Go redlegs.

What a win!!! The Demons ground out a hard fought victory on the road against the Power from Port at the Adelaide Oval in Jack Viney's 200th Game.

He wasn’t prolific but he showed class whenever he had ball in hand and he has a great set of wheels. I refer to Caleb Windsor and I think he’s definitely in contention for the NAB Rising Star nomination this week.

Meanwhile it's all going swimmingly well over on the PA boards today.... USELESS. Average performance by Melbourne. Should be smashing sides like us. Can’t remember a performance worse than Lachie Jones. Momentum killing uncontested dropped marks and fumbles galore. I have no clue how this guy has a gold pass to play every week. So ******* tired of this losers club. We already knew the main guys are losers. But so are thew new guys we brought in. So is this new leadership group we put in. So are Rozee and Butters ultimately. ******* no one wants to win. Dixon and Finlayson can [censored] off the side just because of their set shots in close games for all I care. That’s the biggest disgrace I have ever witnessed. Umpiring totally ruined that game. Melbourne didn’t kick a goal that wasn’t influenced by them. I am done. They should play the Umpires’ song after this game. When the [censored] do we get home town umpiring like the crows. What a disgrace. Umpires go * yourselfs. Mentally weak. That and a lack of forward structure have been on Ken's to do list for the last 12 years. That loss says absolutely everything about us. The same old Hinkley s**t of the past decade. Try hard, but mentally weak as [censored]. Get on top and hand over momentum instead of being ruthless. Kicking set shots like [censored]. And to cap it off ridiculous umpiring on our home ground. Another year down the drain. We lost because of bottom 6 players are trash, barely SANFL standard, and we have an ever increasing list of s**t scared guys who pretend all day long. Dixon and mcntee have no forward craft , Jones is the worst defender in out history , ratugolea is average , Evans state league player. They didnt even have May lol. Imagine our score if they did. That stupid attempt from Esava to mark the ball on the goal line looking pretty costly now. Simply a dumb footballer. I swear Gawn doesnt get away with half as much scragging against other teams as he does against us.20 more inside 50s, more scoring shots, more possession, double the marks inside 50, almost double the contested mark, more tackles...Oh we lost. Also we were gassed as * and somehow used 10 less interchanges that we had available lol.. What a disgrace.. our tall forwards are [censored] weak under pressure. Sack Hinkley. Can anyone kick a ******* goal under pressure. They are kicking them from everywhere. Every ******* week the same [censored], s**t entries, it’s like we have no gameplan. Seriously it comes down to Dicko not owning up the moment and missing easy set shots. Their Beavis and Butthead did not miss even the hard shots at goal. If we didn't make everything so **** hard our players would rely more on their natural game and instincts. We are badly coached, badly motivated and short on critical skills (and decision making). All of this is fixable, but beyond the current incumbents. I've had enough I'm going back to the Sack Hinkley page. and my personal favourite... Didn't someone at Richmond say it was their win over us that gave them the belief that they could win the whole thing in 2017?

As you can imagine there were a lot of references to substance abuse as well which is a bit rich coming from a bunch of spoon burners.

“I focus on being the best head coach I can be. I focus on being a good father, good person. And that's all I do” Stick it up them Goody!!! Haters gonna hate

You guys at the game made a heap of noise in enemy territory. Was proud of yas.

T-Mac won't go in the best on field. But he was just brilliant I thought. Kept Dixon to 1 goal, made life difficult for Charlie all night. He had 7 intercept possessions and went at 100% disposal efficiency.

I think there is a risk of a false narrative building around this game. In particular, that port lost a game they should have won, and that we were lucky to win. Yes, there were similarities to some of our losses last year in the way port dominated in key stats, in particular inside 50 and time in forward half. But those numbers are a little misleading in terms of a comparison to our losses last year. If an opponent had beat us in those areas so comprehensively last season we would have been hammered. Not this season. That's because our method has changed and those stats are not as significant as indicators this season. The other thing is port's supposed innacracy and the much discussed expected score. Port won the evexpected score by 34 points, on its face suggesting we were lucky to win and port threw it away. Last year we lost a number of matches where we were ahead on expected score. But the differential was usually a result of our woeful inaccuracy. So, for example in our semi against the blues, using expected score as a metric, we left something like 4-5 goals on the table IIRC. We should have won that game. The same is true of our loss to the giants in the Alice, and to a lesser extent our finals loss to the pies. But that's not true for port last night, as evidenced by their expected score, which was only 11 points more than their actual score. Meaning they were actually pretty good in terms of their accuracy (expected score is calculated by the percentage of goals from all shots from that spot on the ground from the last 11 seasons). Port didn't lose because they fluffed their lines like we did in say the giants, pies and blues losses. It was because OUR kicking for goal, particularly our set shots, was brilliant. That's not lucky, that's skill. Take three goals as examples. Browns and maxy's set shot goals from 50 are probably no better than something like 30% under x score. Fritters set shot from 45 on a 45 degree angle is probably something like 25% of shots from that spot being goals. Drilling those, and other goals, was the difference in the game. We won the game because our goal kicking was elite. Not because we we were lucky. We didn't steal the game, we won it Good kicking is good football. I'd also add that we clearly ran out the game better. We looked fitter and stronger, and looked the winner from halfway through the last. As evidence, we got out to a 13 point lead, and had a late chance to make it 19. We dominated the last 10 minutes and their lucky after the siren goal made it feel a bit more even than it actually was.

My favourite way to watch the replay is to watch Ben Brown’s reaction to every goal we kick. He’s set up his own one man cheer squad in the goal square. Hilarious.

How good was Rick Levers demonstrative spray to the defenders after Rozee was gifted that goal to level the score with 10 mins to go. Without knowing what was said he was demanding them to stand up and not lose this game from here. I loved it

Windsor doesn’t look as though he needs a rest. At his rate of improvement he’ll probably be in our best 6 at the club after next week. I haven’t seen a player come at our club come do what Windsor has. We’re a top 4 level club, and this kid comes in first year and improves the side drastically. Unless he gets injured he’ll be winning the rising star.

OK, I just need to highlight the Gawn Game tonight. His stats are insane. The guy is a legend.

Where are all the whingers who had a go at the club for retaining Tmac and BB 🙄 We are a genuinely good club and we have a genuinely good team, and we need to stop taking that for granted. A brilliant result considering we were definitely not always on top. We hung on during the momentum swings against us and were able to grind out a win in the last. Kudos to Clarry for lifting in the last. He was clearly hampered by his hand but when the game was on the line, he pushed through. Sensational game from ANB, and Windsor just shows elite glimpses. Knowing we got him from the Jackson compo picks makes losing Jackson hurt less. Howes also quickly becoming a solid defender. Overall a fantastic performance and a big FU to all the pathetic disgruntled ex employees trying to bring our club down. Suck a big one!

It was really marvellous to see Ben Brown tonight. Last season I thought we wouldn’t see him again. The story from North was his knees were shot and he could only run in straight lines he looked pretty mobile tonight and he is a lovely kick when he gets the ball

Watching the replay there was one point where Port has 21 out of the last 25 i50s. For our May-less defence to hold up was incredible

I bought they had the better run with the umpires. 4 frees inside 50 for head high tackles when a port player drops to their knees to draw the free. Why do the umps continually get suck in on these?

The ‘steal’ debate is an interesting one. I get the statistical argument but on the eye test it just felt like a classic game of momentum swings. We arrested theirs when we needed to and took full advantage of ours when we had them. Not to mention coming home with a wet sail which should be praised in any sport. As Max himself noted we are often on the other end of those types of battles so a refreshing change and a damn good win.

You remember Jarrod Molloy at Brisbane? They kept him a bit on the heavy side so he'd be more of a beast in tight spaces and harder to bring down. When he went to the Pies and dropped the extra weight he was half the player. Have to say, I think that was the best game I've seen all year. Scores level at half time, multiple lead changes, a massive arm wrestle for dominance between two very different game styles. It had everything. And of course, the right team won. I can't believe how quickly Windsor is adapting to the top level. So very happy we have him in the side. I'm hoping we'll all be equally impressed with the Kolt when he gets his chance.

This is just baffling. We’ve seen 3 or 4 this year and there’s absolutely no excuse for getting these so wrong.

Sound up 🔊

Just watched the replay. Max was huge, but with six seconds to play at the centre bounce, he hit the ball to a Port player giving them the break forward. Surely the obvious play in the ruck is just to drop it to his own feet or take it out of the ruck and absorb a tackle to force another ball up. I noticed he did the same thing in similar circumstances last year too and I can’t understand why the sensible/defensive play isn’t drummed into him for close finishes or end of quarter contests.

Was down with Covid last night and asleep at 8, so just finished the replay. A couple of things I noticed… Oliver is back.. was finding his feet the first few rounds, but last night he got stronger as the game went on. Was swooping on loose balls and moving through traffic like AA Clayton. Howes is a very good footballer. Class and poise, rarely beaten. Juddy is under the radar.. just does everything well The Team look connected… tapping to advantage, blocking, selfless running. We had it in 2021, first time I’ve seen it since, and I’ve seen it 3 times already this year.

Admittedly not Goodwin’s biggest fan, but from watching his press conference after the game, I love that he backs himself in 100% of the time. He leaves no room for doubt, which must help the playing group and their own confidence. Self-belief is an amazing thing. After all the 💩 he has had to put up with from the media and former board members, it’s time they give him his due credit.

Well done to the Demon Army, helping get our boys over the line 💪

On expected scores we are probably the 2023 premiers. Except we are not. Port let themselves down in front of goal and didn’t take advantage of their inside 50 dominance. That’s football. We’ve lost plenty of games we should have won. As Goody said, we were better during crucial moments and took our chances. A fantastic victory!

Loved that win. Very professional and played with a lot of passion. A very solid team performance with exceptional games for a number of our leaders. Max was excellent. Dominated the ruck, worked hard around the ground and kicked a massive goal when required. ANB, Petracca, Viney and Ben Brown were all at their best with ANB the pick of the bunch. There were more than a few that had the forks stuck into Ben and Tom last season and also this pre-season. Bit of humble pie to feast on for them. Defence: Hibberd retired at the end of last season, May injured, Bowey injured..... there are a lot of reasons to think that we would have lost an edge back there but the structure of this team within a team works just so well. Petty started back there and then the Goodwin moved him forward. I scratched my head over that but the rest of the defence had the three talls in Port's forward line well covered. We even had the ability to have Salem in the middle with Hore and Howe, both relatively inexperienced, working well in the back 50. I found Howe in particular impressed. McVee and Rivers were more than solid. Midfield: A pretty even contest in this area of the ground with our boys shading the Port mids. I thought that in the last quarter when the game was there to be won, our midfield really stood up. Best game I have seen from ANB and I think he has had more than a few good games in the past. Langdon finding form and Windsor just great for a kid of his age and experience. As I said above, Max was close to BOG. a battle with ANB. Forwards: How Ben can play like that with all those forks stuck in him is unbelievable. Great to see him celebrate and smile. I also liked his interview with Windsor after the match. The rest of the forwards took their opportunities and you really cannot fault them. We kicked 15.4 for the match and I think 2 of those behinds were posters. A good 4points to have and it might just be an 8 point win by the end of the season as I think Port will go very well this season. A couple of other points: The TV shots of the Port supporters were priceless. I have seen beaten up old bulldogs with better looking heads and I loved Fristch giving them heaps after his goal. Second point is one that has been raised on here with regard to Brereton. He really is a wordy pompous fool. Went on about Port and their players all night and directly after the game immediately raised the point of the projected scores showing that Port should have won. Trying to claim the English cricket team's mantle of cheer leader for 'moral victories'. I see we easily dispatched Hawthorn last week. Anyhoooooo. Another 4 points and a smile on my face.

I think that’s our best win since The GF We are right in the mix now number 14…..?

The late body hit from behind on Butters or Rozee after they kicked it that turned into the down field kick was it in the second? If thats what they're referring to then nothing to worry about.

I’m convinced Rozee made the Rivers tackle look worse than it actually was. That was a bullshiit decision

Inbred tears never tasted so good.

I'm not a BBB or Tmac hater in anyway, they are premiership players and will be forever grateful, but did think their best footy was behind them, yes. Did i think they should have pulled the pin at the end of last year, yes. I was wrong about them both they have completely prove me and the rest of us wrong. I apologise BBB and Tmac, i hope the rest of us have the stones to apologise also. I hope they can keep this going until the business end of the season.

FIELD OF DREAMS by KC from Casey The sunny skies and still, clear conditions that greeted fans on their arrival created a dreamlike Easter carnival atmosphere for Casey’s game against Footscray at Casey Fields. After their dreams of a flying start to the new season were shattered a week earlier with a disappointing error-riddled opening, the home supporters were given much hope with an improved performance from their team. They were treated with a high standard game of VFL football played in perfect conditions. It was Footscray’s steadiness under pressure and a huge advantage in experience that saw them run out victorious by 14 points, but what the fans saw in the Casey performance was not only improvement but also, a plethora of encouraging signs for the future. Both sides came well out of the blocks early and traded goals until Casey got on top with three quick goals to hold an 18 point lead in mid-term. The Casey rucks and midfielders opened strongly giving the forwards room to move and the goals came. In defence, Jed Adams was a key in his defensive role but when he went off injured, the strong marking Rory Lobb booted two goals and Bianco another to even the scores with the goals deep into time on. After the break, Casey dominated the first half of the second quarter but apart from an easy initial goal to Schache, his third, the Demons simply could not hit targets. Moved back to full forward this week, Matt Jefferson had a purple patch taking some strong marks but his good work was undone with wayward kicking for goal. During this period, he hit the post twice while two other shots failed to score at all. As often happens, the Bulldogs made them pay for their errant kicking at goal scoring four of the next five goals (with Jefferson finally hitting the target for the first time) to go into the sheds at half time with an 8 point lead. The Dogs’ greater accuracy in the third quarter when the Demons kicked only six behinds, saw them stretch the lead to 19 points and while Casey finally got their kicking boots on in the final term, Footscray always had the answers and held on to record a well-deserved 14 point victory. The visitors were loaded with experience at the highest level including two 150 plus AFL games players Rory Lobb (5 goals) and Melbourne premiership player James Harmes (with a game high 33 disposals), 100 gamer Alex Keath and a bevy of other names like Garcia, Jones, McNeil, O’Donnell, Scott and Spicer. By way of contrast, Casey’s only Melbourne listers with experience at AFL level were Josh Schache with 76 games across three clubs and Brisbane recruit Tom Fullarton with 19 games at the Lions. Both had good games with Schache important with four goals but in the heat of battle, the experience differential was significant, especially after Bailey Laurie and Adam Tomlinson were withdrawn from the side and flew to Adelaide to be with the Melbourne team. One of the main functions of this tier of football is to provide a good platform for an AFL club’s youth and another, to give local communities access to a high standard of sport. In this regard, the game showcased the potential at Casey for the fulfillment of many future dreams. Despite Jefferson’s missed goalkicking opportunities (he finished with 2.3 but his accuracy in the past has been sound), the game proved to be a massive confidence booster for him in terms of the way he clunked his seven marks and also, for his ground level play. His duel with fellow uncapped 2022 first round draftee Jedd Busslinger was a ripper and one can imagine similar contests in the future on a higher stage. Also impressive from that class of 2022 were key defender Jed Adams who played his best game yet at Casey, finishing with 11 disposals, rookie ruckman Will Verrall’s 25 hit outs, 19 possessions and two goals and late rookie pick Oliver Sestan (18 disposals, six tackles and a goal) whose improvement over summer has been remarkable. He crashed through packs and intimated the opposition at times in a strong display. Andy Moniz-Wakefield was good again with 23 disposals as he pushes hard for senior selection as he awaits an opening to present itself at Melbourne. Adding to the excitement was the form of Melbourne’s 2023 first-round draftee Koltyn Tholstrup and father/son pick Kynan Brown. The Kolt was again super-impressive with his strength and maturity and the classy way he gathered his 19 touches and six tackles, setting up numerous forward opportunities. The club will have to find a way to include him in its AFL plans soon. Brown was busy again and finished with 16 disposals. Much has been written about the departure of a number of Casey regulars at the end of last season. Some, like heart and soul player and hard tackler Jimmy Munro are irreplaceable but the club’s recruitment has, on this game’s evidence, been very strong. Campbell Husthwaite was again prolific in the middle, Leo Connolly, a revelation off half back (both had 24 disposals) and Mitch Szybkowski was excellent, particularly early in the game. Skipper Mitch White plugged away to be his team’s best for the day while Tyler Edwards also picked up plenty of the football. The end result was most satisfying for the fans who came to support the team over the Easter holiday. A win is not far away and could come next Saturday week against Port Melbourne. Such an outcome might not be the stuff of dreams but the promise of good times is definitely on the horizon for the Melbourne/Casey alliance. CASEY DEMONS 6.2.38 8.7.55 8.13.61 12.13.85 FOOTSCRAY 6.2.38 10.3.63 12.8.80 15 9.99 GOALS CASEY DEMONS Schache 4 Jefferson Verrall 2 Connolly Sestan Steele White FOOTSCRAY Lobb 5 Clarke Jones Spicer 2 Benendo Bianco Garcia Harmes BEST CASEY DEMONS White Verrall Edwards Sestan Hustwaite Tholstrop FOOTSCRAY Harmes Garcia Lobb Bianco Freijah Hunt Statistics Jed Adams 10 kicks 1 handballs 11 disposals 4 marks 1 tackle 46 dream team points Kynan Brown 1 behind 6 kicks 10 handballs 16 disposals 5 marks 1 tackle 58 dream team points Leo Connolly 1 goal 1 behind 19 kicks 5 handballs 24 disposals 4 marks 80 dream team points Paddy Cross 5 kicks 7 handballs 12 disposals 3 marks 1 tackle 42 dream team points Tyler Edwards 1 behind 16 kicks 5 handballs 21 disposals 10 marks 2 tackles 95 dream team points Kyah Farris-White 1 kick 1 disposal 3 dream team points Tom Freeman 5 kicks 1 handballs 6 disposals 3 marks 2 tackles 34 dream team points Tom Fullarton 1 behind 10 kicks 8 handballs 18 disposals 4 marks 1 tackle 6 hitouts 70 dream team points Max Gregory 5 kicks 8 handballs 13 disposals 3 marks 3 tackles 53 dream team points Campbell Husthwaite 11 kicks 13 handballs 24 disposals 4 marks 5 tackles 94 dream team points Matt Jefferson 2 goals 3 behinds 9 kicks 9 disposals 7 marks 5 tackles 78 dream team points Andy Moniz-Wakefield 17 kicks 6 handballs 23 disposals 5 marks 75 dream team points Ned Moodie 6 kicks 6 handballs 12 disposals 4 marks 2 tackles 51 dream team points Charlie Peters 2 kicks 2 handballs 4 disposals 1 mark 1 tackle 17 dream team points Josh Schache 4 goals 6 kicks 5 handballs 11 disposals 4 marks 3 tackles 74 dream team points Ollie Sestan 1 goal 2 behinds 10 kicks 8 handballs 18 disposals 5 marks 6 tackles 94 dream team points Tom Sheridan 2 kicks 2 handballs 4 disposals 1 mark 10 dream team points Roan Steele 1 goal 1 behind 7 kicks 6 handballs 13 disposals 2 marks 46 dream team points Mitch Szybkowski 10 kicks 7 handballs 17 disposals 1 mark 1 tackle 52 dream team points Koltyn Tholstrup 8 kicks 11 handballs 19 disposals 6 marks 6 tackles 88 dream team points Ziggy Toledo 4 kicks 2 handballs 6 disposals 3 marks 1 tackle 29 dream team points Will Verrall 2 goals 7 kicks 12 handballs 19 disposals 4 marks 1 tackle 25 hitouts 95 dream team points Mitch White 1 goal 1 behind 21 kicks 7 handballs 28 disposals 7 marks 3 tackles 118 dream team points

At least the Crows only have one extra day, but with a trip back from Perth. So both are disadvantaged in a way. It sounds like the club are turning this fixture debacle into a positive and setting up a mini hub for the week. The last time we were in a hub we won a flag.

Fantastic team performance against a genuinely good opposition at a hostile home ground! In particular, I’m so happy for Benny Brown, Tom McDonald and Marty Hore. Three guys who have been completely written off, playing pivotal roles in the team. All three are thriving and supporting their younger teammates. Didn’t see them being capable of this level of football!

A huge shout out to the D.A. and anyone that managed to get there tonight. The cheering was immense and loud. The chanting sensational. Must've given the boys a lift too. Fabulous stuff guys! 💪🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼✅️✅️✅️

Outside of the GF it's one of the best wins I've seen live. ANB deserves a hug.

And here’s me 3 weeks ago saying Brown and TMac are dead and cooked. I bow before thee in great apology. That goal from Ben on 50 when the crowd’s meth had really kicked in……awesome

Benny Brown winds back the clock. He ain't done

ANB the underrated king of football Windsor is fire