KC from Casey

Paul Amy has updated his article to include additional players signed since it first appeared:- Riley Bonner What a boost for the Casey backline. Bonner played 19 AFL games for St Kilda in 2024, taking his tally to 112 in a career that began at Port Adelaide in 2016. "His exceptional kicking ability and football IQ will be invaluable in providing drive off the backline," the Demons said after signing Bonner, who will take up a role in Melbourne's NGA. Mitch Hardie Former South Australian Hardie, 27, is a superb addition to the Demons. His efforts for Geelong's VFL team last season were exemplary, winning the best and fairest after averaging 29 disposals per game (he had 20 or more in all 19 of his matches). Unsurprisingly, he was a VFL team-of-the-year pick. Mitch Kirkwood-Scott The sweet-kicking defender was part of the 2024 Sandringham Dragons premiership team, having 21 possessions and 10 marks in the grand final. The former Haileybury College captain averaged 16.8 disposals from 13 Talent League appearances.

Apologies - he's staying. The ones who are going are Roan Steele, Ryan Valentine and Mitch White. Now fixed.

The Casey Demons played their last game for the season on a Saturday morning in August against the Gold Coast Suns in front of a meagre crowd at People First Stadium. The team was thrashed by 88 points in Ben Brown’s last game (he booted six goals). Shane McAdam snagged four and Andy Moniz-Wakefield finished with 35 touches to feature among the team’s best. They were among the 12 AFL listed Demons in the side. The remainder were Casey VFL-listed players — Tyson Edwards, Roy George, Max Gregory, Eddie King, Harvey Neocleous, Charlie Peters, Kobe Shipp, Roan Steele, Kai Windsor, Ryan Valentine and Mitch White. The last three on that list have departed and only the first two would be considered automatic selections if you had to pick eleven VFL listed players to represent Casey first up next season. With the changes at Melbourne we will also see different MFC faces in the lineup so it’s certainly going to be a major overhaul at Casey in 2025.

I’m hoping the ban imposed elsewhere on DL doesn’t apply here because I’m obliged to mention that Mitch Kirkwood-Scott is an excellent signing and skipper of the Haileybury College The 178cm Kirkwood-Scott is a small defender who is a strong interceptor who runs the lines and would be a great foil for Bonner, a quality player who could fit a number of roles at VFL level. Rivalry for places at the club will be strong in 2025 and some MFC listed players will have to be on their toes. Competition is good.

He is, however, a returning player so there was no necessity to mention him among those who re-signed and just wanted to highlight a couple of the players in that category. Or they just don't want to make a big deal of him?

Paul Amy’s Code Sports article (you have to be a subscriber), "Done deal: the first 100 recruits for the 2025 VFL season," includes the following players signed by the Casey Demons for 2025 - Riley Baldi Baldi is back in the VFL after a superb season with Moe in which he won the Gippsland league medal, his club best and fairest and was named in the team of the year for the second successive season. In his list of this year's best 50 country footballers, astute Weekly Times writer David Johnston slotted the onballer at No. 5, noting he had "began strongly and maintained a high output right to the end". Leongatha coach Trent McMicking thought him in the No. 1 player in Gippsland. Baldi was a prominent Gippsland Power player in 2019, representing Vic Country at the Under 18 championships and attending the AFL state combine. Jai Culley The 2022 No. 1 mid-season draft pick will no doubt be eyeing an opening with the AFL Demons as he makes out for Casey Fields. The former Dandenong Stingray played a dozen matches for West Coast, returning to the AFL this year after sustaining an ACL injury in 2023. Chance Doultree Doultree, 22, was on the Footscray Bulldogs VFL list this year and figured in Traralgon's Gippsland league premiership. He previously spent time with Norwood in the SANFL. Patrick Ireland Graduating from Gippsland Power, Ireland booted 111 goals from 20 matches this year for Buln Buln in the Ellinbank and District league, including six in the grand final. There were also bags of 14, 13 and 12. "He's got all the attributes you like in a forward," outgoing Buln Buln coach Bobby McAllum said. "He's very mobile and he takes a really good mark but what sets him apart from a lot of forwards is that he's a really good set-shot." Deakyn Smith Smith won Casey's 2023 best and fairest as a Melbourne-listed player and he's returned to Casey Fields after a season with North Melbourne's VFL program. Tyson Sruk Sruk earned attention when he had 37 possessions for Eastern Ranges in the 2023 Under 18 grand final against Sandringham Dragons. A broken collarbone restricted him this year as a Carlton VFL-lister but he did play a dozen matches at local level for Rowville. It’s also been reported from yesterday’s MFC preseason session at Gosch’s Paddock that Mitch Hardie, who was delisted by the Cats at the end of the 2024 season despite winning the club’s VFL best and fairest, trained alongside Roy George, uncle of Kysaiah Pickett. who is also training over the summer with the club. Although no list spots are currently available at Melbourne, both are set to play for Casey this year, with the aim of gaining a place should one become available down the track.

Roy was at Casey for a few games last year. He kicked a few goals against Williamstown and looked quite spectacular at times but ran out of puff. He played a few more games during the remainder of the season and was billed as Kozzy's uncle but I'm not sure if that's the case or whether they are bound together in some way that allows him to be described that way. They certainly had some affinity to one another and if he trains with the club on a regular basis, who knows? I think however, it might be a stretch to claim him as a Category B player. Surely, it would be sufficient at this stage for him to be on the Casey list with the opportunity to be taken in the next midseason draft if a list vacancy arises.

Riley Bonner would be a fantastic acquisition at the Casey Demons!

So looking at the article with the list of local players available to be drafted, it would appear that there's a healthy list of players from the Gippy area who could be approached to play with Casey. Food for thought.

Thanks WJ. No doubt, there will be more names to be added to the list when the draft and rookie drafts are over.

I believe that Ziggy Toledo-Glasman sustained a knee injury and is doubtful for this year. Pity, because he would have been a handy player in the VFL.

That’s most likely the case with Hustwaite who announced that he was heading back to play with Rosebud - Campbell Hustwaite's raw account of the heartbreaking end to his Collingwood AFL dream “Now, after a stint at Casey Demons, Hustwaite has made a difficult call of his own, dropping back to local football at the age of 23. He's returned to Rosebud, where his father, Mark, was senior coach, where his older brother Fletcher is captain, where his younger brother and Hawthorn AFL player Henry also emerged, and where some of his best mates play. Some people have told him it's too early for him to leave the VFL. But he answers that recruiters and clubs have been watching him since he was 16 and someone would already have picked him if they thought he was good enough to play in the AFL. "It's not like I'm some flash in the pan who's come from local footy or I'm this late bloomer," Hustwaite says. "If I'm still not on a list, l'm a big boy, I can take it. Maybe people think I'm not up to AFL standard." He says he did everything he could to get drafted out of the VFL and join the long list of players to have made the jump from the state league. In the end, it wasn't enough.“ Still, you never know. Perhaps, he’s had a change of mind. Why would they keep his name (and Connolly’s) on the list if he’s definitely given up?

Just before we sign off for 2024, a reminder of who performed well in an otherwise forgettable season. Casey Demons Best & Fairest 2024

This is the time of year when the VFL clubs are in preparation for the coming season. With the AFL Trade and Free Agency period now over, the VFL clubs will be looking to add to their lists and the recruiters at Casey have plenty of work to do given Mitch White’s retirement and the unlikely prospect that their two main recruits of 2024 (injured pair Campbell Hustwaite and Leo Connolly) will be back in the fold for next year. Time for new names and an innovative approach for the club that went downhill quickly after the glory of its 2022 premiership.

Congratulations to Mitch White on a great stretch as a player and skipper at the Casey Demons. He’s been a great contributor and excellent servant of the club. However, since he captained the 2022 premiership side, it’s been downhill all the way for the VFL affiliate - and not through his fault. We lost the experience of Jimmy Munro, Matthew Buntine and George Grey at the end of last year and had some bad luck with early injuries to Campbell Hustwaite and Leo Connolly who were meant at least to partly replace them this year. They hardly used Jack Bell who proved a better ruckman than the MFC listed rucks (granted that Will Verrall deserved to be played for his potential). Over the past couple of seasons, Casey’s been left in the lurch without key players held back including the day when most of the best players were prevented from playing in a final! Who would want to stake their reputation to be coach of the VFL team? Fair enough - the main objective is to gain the best possible result for the AFL team but it can still be cooperative in working with the VFL side to give its young up and comers the best possible space in which to play, improve and succeed. So while reviews are taking place at the club, it’s time for Melbourne to review its relationship with the Casey Demons and particularly, to do a lot more to support the team which is, after all, the place where we’re supposed to be grooming our young players into senior AFL footballers. In any event, one hopes that a strong effort is made to provide a strong stable of VFL listed players to replace the likes of White, Munro, Buntine, Grey, Ellison to allow supporters to enjoy the experience of supporting the Casey Demons.