KC from Casey

Interesting that Southport inflicted a second finals thrashing on Frankston in today’s VFL Preliminary Final with an 88 point win. The only outlier of the finals for the Dolphins was the Casey Demons game from last weekend when Casey lost their spark and inexplicably gave away nine unanswered goals in the second and third quarters.

A testament to Frankston’s accuracy for goal is that they went inside 50 on 45 occasions for their 16 goals. Casey had 15 more entries for their 13 goals … and sadly, that is in many ways the story of the two Demon outfits in 2025.

The siren sounds and it’s all over for the Casey Demons in 2025 after losing another close one through a lack of ability to convert near the goals. CASEY DEMONS 3.2.20 4.5.29 8.9.57 13.12.90 FRANKSTON 2.2.14 8.4.52 13.5.83 16.5.101 GOALS CASEY DEMONS Culley Hardie 3 Kentfield 2 Cross Laurie Tholstrup Yze FRANKSTON Ellison Mynott 4 Jones 2 Blamires Grant Hamill Hipwell Johnson BEST CASEY DEMONS Laurie Culley Johnson Hardie Baldi Campbell FRANKSTON Hipwell Voss Blamires Lloyd Ellison Barlow

Frankston goal and that looks like it

Laurie goals - back to 5 points

That goal to Frankston makes it hard … 95 - 84.

Could they …

3QT Frankston 13.5.83 lead Casey Demons 8.9.57 Goals Hardie 3 Kentfield Cross Culley Tholstrup Disposals Billings 21 Bonner 20 Hardie 19 Laurie 18 Campbell 17

Free kick count is 19 - 9 in Frankston’s favour.

Frankston have all the answers. Every time Casey shows a bit of fight they come out and score a goal.

Kentfield who has been quiet all night marks and kicks his second.

Since Culley kicked Casey’s fourth goal, it’s been a 9 goal to nil avalanche until Tholstrup managed that one!

It’s almost time for a white flag.

Dolphins now double the Demons score 58 - 29.

HT Frankston 4.5.29 lead Casey Demons 8.4.52 Goals Goals Cross Culley Hardie Kentfield Disposals Billings 16 Hardie 13 Culley Laurie 12 Bonner Brown Campbell 9

It’s a dominant quarter from the Dolphins.

Four unanswered - time to get a move on.

QT Casey Demons 3.2.20 lead Frankston 2.2.14 Goals Cross Hardie Kentfield Disposals Billings 8 Culley Laurie 7 Brown Hardie 6

Paddy Cross the goal kicker is a much improved player.

First point to Casey.

Meanwhile, Box Hill beat the Brisbane Lions on the last kick of the day.

We have maintained the same number of AFL-listed players (15) as last week, with Charlie Spargo being sidelined due to what is likely a season-ending shoulder injury, while Will Verrall has recovered from illness and returns to the side. Casey listed Tooradin youngster Jesse Craven has been included at the expense of Tyson Sruk.

FRANKSTON vs CASEY DEMONS First Semi Final Saturday 6 September, 7:35pm, Kinetic Stadium FRANKSTON B: W. Hamill (9), J. Smith (25), J. Voss (13) HB: T. Milne (15), J. Lloyd (18), T. Barlow (3) C: T. Owens (7), T. Murphy (5), A. McComb (20) HF: N. Burke (17), N. Gown (1), M. Johnson (24) F: B. Lambert (22), C. Ellison (4), T. Mynott (12) R: H. Coe (16), D. Hipwell (14), T. Blamires (23) INT: H. Jones (39), O. Moran (28), K. Askew (42), L. Riley (8), T. Campbell-Farrell (26) EMG: T. O'Leary (41), C. Gay (34), J. Burton (50), A. Grant (19) IN: W. Hamill, H. Jones OUT: G. Grey (suspended), J. Burton (omitted) CASEY DEMONS B: B. Howes (22), J. Adams (26), D. Smith (54) HB: O. Sestan (38), T. Fullarton (33), R. Bonner (52) C: J. Culley (46), J. Billings (14), T. Woewodin (40) HF: M. Hardie (55), A. Johnson (42), R. Mentha Jnr (39) F: P. Cross (64), L. Kentfield (44), B. Laurie (16) R: T. Campbell (29), K. Tholstrup (12), K. Brown (41) INT: A. Lual (74), W. Verrall (28), R. Baldi (56), J. Craven (75), N. Yze (49) 23rd Player: J. Craven (75) EMG: T. Freeman (67), T. Sruk (53), C. Peters (63), M. Kirkwood-Scott (51) IN: J. Craven, W. Verrall OUT: C. Spargo (shoulder), T. Sruk (omitted) Head-to-Head: Casey Demons 47-23; At Kinetic Stadium: Casey Demons 18-12; Streak: Frankston 1; Last time: Frankston 10.8 (68) def Casey Demons 5.11 (41) – Round 17, 2024, Kinetic Stadium

Preview from afl.com.au FIRST SEMI FINALFrankston (4th) vs Casey Demons (5th) Kinetic Stadium Saturday 6 September at 7:35pm Broadcaster: afl.com.auAFL - News, Videos, Fixtures, Scores & Results - AFL.com.auAustralian Football League. All the latest AFL news, AFL video, results, scores and information + AFL Live Official App A huge contest awaits at Kinetic Stadium on Saturday night as Frankston host Casey Demons for the chance to meet Southport in a preliminary final. The Dolphins were no match for a dominant Footscray last Saturday in their first Melbourne final in 17 years, scoring just three goals as their eight-game unbeaten run came to an end. The heavy defeat was soured further by a suspension to star playmaker George Grey which will see him miss the remainder of the season. After an injury-interrupted start to the season, Grey had begun hitting his straps across the final three home and away games, where he kicked six goals and averaged more than 20 disposals. Despite last week’s forgettable performance, it would come as no surprise to see this proud Dolphins outfit bounce back in front of a big home crowd on Saturday night. Frankston holds an 8-1-1 record at home this year, with all wins coming under lights. Their opponents Casey boast an impressive 3-0 record in night games this year, but haven’t played under lights since beating Werribee at Mission Whitten Oval in Round 16. Taine Barlow and Tyson Milne were two shining lights in defence for Frankston during the heavy loss to the Bulldogs and will play key roles in limiting Casey’s high scoring ability. Corey Ellison, Noah Gown and Matt Johnson have combined for 112 majors this year and will be looking to atoned for a quite day last week, where the trio was contained to a combined tally of 18 disposals and one major. Meanwhile captain Trent Mynott made a successful return from injury last week in his first game since Round 14 and was one of his side’s three goalkickers. He has kicked majors in eight of his 13 games in 2025 and his leadership will be crucial in such an important game. It will be no easy feat to get past the most in-form side of the competition outside of Footscray, with Casey making a statement in its 76-point thrashing of Williamstown in last week’s elimination final. The victory came off a scintillating seven-goal effort from youngster Noah Yze, who will be one to watch again come Saturday night following a breakout performance against the Seagulls. He’d previously only kicked eight VFL games before the elimination final. The midfield battle will be pivotal if the Demons are to prevail over the Dolphins for the first time since Round 3, 2023. Bailey Laurie, Blake Howes and Mitch Hardie all had north of 25 disposals last week, while Tom Campbell continues to dominate in the ruck and has recorded 22 clearances in his past two matches. Last week’s win was Casey’s first finals victory since the 2022 Grand Final triumph and there is no question the past two months have been the club’s most impressive since their premiership victory. While it will be a tough task to silence Frankston and its passionate home faithful, Casey has every reason to feel confident it can bank consecutive finals victories to set up a clash next week against the team it beat in the 2022 premiership decider. FRANKSTON 4th (12-5-1, 111.2%) STREAK: Lost 1 (2025: LDWWWWWWWLLWLWLWWLW) CASEY DEMONS 5th (11-6-1, 135.5%) STREAK: Won 6 (2025: WWWWWWLLWWWWLLWLLWD) LAST MEETING Round 17, 2024 – Kinetic Stadium FRANKSTON 1.0 8.2 9.4 10.8 (68) CASEY DEMONS 2.1 3.3 4.9 5.11 (41) BEST Frankston: Tom Murphy, Sebastian Quirk, Matt Johnson, Jackson Voss, Angus Grant, Taine Barlow Casey Demons: Kynan Brown, Mitch White, Marty Hore, Roan Steele, Will Verrall, Mitch Szybkowski GOALS Frankston: Matt Johnson 4, Tom Murphy 2, Nick Burke, Noah Gown, Jack Newnes, Seb Quirk Casey Demons: Jack Bell 2, Kynan Brown, Luker Kentfield, Charlie Peters LEADING DISPOSALS Frankston: Seb Quirk 29, Tom Murphy 27, Jackson Voss 26, Lachie Riley 23, Trent Mynott 22 Casey Demons: Kynan Brown 27, Mitch White 24, Tyler Edwards 23, Roan Steel 23, Marty Hore 21, Blake Howes 21

Shall try once there’s exact confirmation from the VFL as to the next stages of the final series. In the meantime, the clubs also still awaiting confirmation from the VFL of next week’s game, but Paul Amy has said on X that he expects “the Frankston-Casey Demons VFL semi to be played under lights at Kinetic Stadium next Saturday night. The ground will be packed to the gunwales”.