Dees_In_October

Round 12 vs. Essendon Bombers Close, but not cigar! Watched this one in a COVID-induced haze, so I'll defer to the match report provided by Ethan Hibbert on the MFC website: https://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/1360457/vflw-demons-leave-it-too-late On a day that had wind conditions more suited to an empty paddock then a football field saw the Casey Demons VFLW team go down to the Essendon Bombers by five points, the finals score 3.7 25 to 4.6 30. It was extremely windy at Casey Fields with the goalposts themselves struggling to stay upright. A tight contest was on display with a Casey side looking to knock off a fellow final’s contender on their charge to a place in the final 6. Given the conditions, the game was extremely contested, and it became a battle of who can win the ball in the stoppage first. Casey were against the wind in the first term and their main objective was to prevent the advantage with the wind that the Bombers would build. Stoppage after stoppage was a story of the game with the Demons midfielders working overtime to allow no time and space on the ball and tackle at every opportunity they could. Essendon didn’t kick their first goal until halfway through the quarter and it was a decent start for the Demons. Another goal followed from a perfect centre clearance saw the Demons concede three for the first quarter. Roles reversed in the second and the Bombers were excellent, not allowing Casey to get the ball forward with the wind at all. Unfortunately, Ciara Burke’s goal was the only major for the term with the home side inaccurate in front of the goal, kicking five behinds. A factor that would prove costly later in the match. The third period for Casey was all about limiting the damage and keeping the margin as small as possible so they could try and claw it back in the final quarter. Also, inaccurate in front of goal, the Bombers kicked four straight behinds and only one goal in the third quarter and would have been worried that they didn’t kill the game. 19-points down, with the wind and Casey had all the belief going into the final term that they could claw back a result. Contest to contest, stoppage to stoppage, Essendon played the conditions perfectly to not allow the Demons opportunities to bring the game back. The Bombers forced the ball wide and out of bounds to kill the clock and make the task grow for the home team. In the hunt for a potential finals place, Casey had all the hope and motivation they needed. A Brooke Borchard goal in the sixth minute gave an even bigger boost of momentum and Casey could see the light at the end of the tunnel. Amber Kinnane converted to make it a one goal game with 4 minutes left. A behind from the centre clearance meant that a goal would be a game winning score for the Demons, but as they had done so expertly throughout the game, the Bombers held on. Flooding the backline with every player on the field and preventing any loose ball, the away side where able to hold on, winning by five points. The loss sees Casey now face an almost impossible chance of making finals. Mathematically, they can still slip in but the job at hand is enormous and requires other results to go their way, for the Demons to have the slightest of opportunities to play finals in 2023. Despite the disappointing outcome, Casey will be sure to play their best football and finish the year on a high for the remaining two rounds. CASEY DEMONS: 0.0 1.5 1.5 3.7 (25) ESSENDON BOMBERS: 3.2 3.2 4.6 4.6 (30) BEST: Burn, O'Neill, Fairchild, Phillips, Proy, Kinnane DISPOSALS: 25 Danckert, 21 Fairchild, 16 Burn, 14 Neal, 13 O’Neill

Obviously some kind of top-secret intel that will hold the key to the Dees' success when she gets back here.

I saw that too - so random! (I'm assuming it was some kind of glitch, but I like your conspiratorial thinking)

Round 11 vs. Geelong Cats MATCH REPORT In for Casey were Bertrand (returning for her first VFLW game in almost four years), while the teenager Barnett from Old Melburnians came in for her debut. The Cats were weakened by a few injuries and also rested a couple of players. QTR 1 Casey got on the front foot straight away, trapping the ball inside fifty and peppering the goals. In stark contrast to games where attacking has been difficult, in the blink of an eye the Demons had five scores—unfortunately all points. You had to wonder if the inaccuracy would come back to haunt us, but it was a positive start against the ladder leaders. The pressure from our players was immense. This caused the Cats to struggle to hit a target as they were forced into repeated turnovers. Neal, working hard in and under, earned a HTB free kick thirty metres out, directly in front, and took Casey out to an 11-point lead. O’Neill with repeated efforts to lock the ball in was also rewarded with a holding the ball free and kicked truly. Late in the quarter Geelong finally managed some composed ball movement, trying to shift the Casey defence by changing the angles. They had some success in picking their way through, but the backline structure held up to ensure it was a shallow entry and spoiled to ground where there was plenty of support. A quick transition down the field saw Kirkwood, who’d been everywhere, find a paddock of space and she put one through on the siren to give Casey an impressive 24-point lead at the first change. QTR 2 In a similar pattern to the first, the Demons began the quarter with several shots on goal to no avail, though none were particularly straightforward. Midway through the quarter, Geelong got some control of the footy and finally got a mark inside fifty, which they converted into their first goal. Buoyed by that, they upped their intensity around the footy, but Casey responded in kind. A lot of the play was between the arcs, with neither side able to get much happening in an attacking sense. After a solid first quarter, the Dees managed to sustain the pressure and took a 21-point lead into half time. QTR 3 The first seven minutes of the third are lost to the sands of time, due to some kind of camera malfunction, or perhaps the cameraperson went to blow their nose after sniffing their way through the first half? According to their muttered voiceover, they’ll “get blamed for this somehow”, so good luck to them! Regardless, when vision returned (and the sniffing), the crowd was vocal, the score was still 21 points, and there was a real scrap for the footy on the wing. Soon after, O’Neill took a great lead-up mark and belted it to the advantage of Burke, who kicked a classy running snap to put Casey in a likely winning position. The intensity at the ball carrier continued and the game became quite congested, so there looked to be little danger of the game opening up to Geelong’s advantage. Their hopes were further weakened by the fact they were completely outsized in the ruck, though really Casey could have done more with that advantage at times. QTR 4 While there wasn’t much scoring action in the final term, Casey concentrated of sticking to the game plan that had set up things up in the first. They didn’t allow the Cats to get any kind of momentum and ground out the game to the siren for a well-earned win. This was a really even team effort, with the midfield’s pressure helping a well-structured backline and the forwards creating plenty of opportunities while making sure there were few easy exits for the opposition. While Geelong had more of the footy, Casey made sure they couldn’t do much with it, restricted them to 15 inside fifties compared to 39. The only flaw was the goal kicking, but coming into the game we’d take that score line every day of the week! The win means Casey’s finals chances are still alive with three rounds remaining and our players should take confidence that they can match it with the best. FINAL SCORE: Geelong Cats 2.2.14 Casey Demons 4.11.35 Casey goalkickers: O’Neill, Neal, Kirkwood, Burke VFLW standouts: Woolcock – 18 disposals, 5 marks, 6 tackles Fairchild – 20 disposals, 10 tackles, 7 clearances Neal – 18 disposals, 6 tackles, 5 clearances Kinnane – 16 disposals, 6 tackles, 5 clearances Danckert – 16 disposals, 11 tackles, 5 clearances AFLW listed: N/A Next week: BYE

Pre-season starts today! A bit of news here and there- Interview with Lily Mithen, commenting on the upcoming season, the stability of the list and the next group of leaders: https://www.womens.afl/news/119677/dees-go-from-hunters-to-hunted-as-flag-defence-starts Another article notes that: "Melbourne's Irish sisters Blaithin and Aimee Mackin won't hit Australian shores until mid-August, as they represent their County Armagh in the All-Ireland Championship". Some interesting info here about the state of things regarding training times. https://www.womens.afl/news/119682 West Coast and Melbourne began having a daytime training session last year, with most other clubs now following. More players are now in part-time rather than full-time work/study, as a result of the pay increase last season and the focus on recruitment of younger players. Thanks to Kev's training reports, I'm also aware that in the past few weeks a couple of AFLW players have joined the men's training for a few sessions. I have no idea if this is happening at other clubs but wouldn't be surprised if it's another example of Melbourne leading the way and using a 'one-club' approach. Max Gawn on AFLW season length (still TBA for season 2023): https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/the-fans-want-more-gawn-backs-frustrated-aflw-players-call-for-longer-season-20230527-p5dbqu.html And here's a not especially surprising stat:

Round 10 vs. Southern Saints MATCH REPORT The ins for this game included Mel Hogg, Caitlin Conroy, Steph Rummel, Ella Dempster and India Makai, while Emma Horne went out with an ankle injury. Last time these teams met back in Round 5, the Saints were the easy victors, with a comprehensive 42-point win at Casey Fields. I watched the first quarter of this game before heading off to the ‘G. The Demons were under the pump from the start, struggling to get the ball beyond the halfway line. The Southern Saints were in full control, and yet, our players’ commitment in defence was unwavering under an absolute onslaught of inside fifties—but was that sustainable? The Saints had missed a few they should have taken, after all. Our players looked pretty exhausted after a quarter of frenetic defending… Checking the scores en route, at halftime the Saints were 4.5 to Casey’s 0.2. I was afraid that when I tuned back in for the final score that, under sheer weight of numbers, a real shellacking would have occurred. Though, I was confident that pride and determination would prevent a goalless game from these players. The final score, while still a defeat, made for better than expected reading. I was impressed to see that the defence had remained strong, holding the Saints to a mere two points after halftime, plus our Dees had broken through for three goals in the last. That shows some fight, and the ability to play the game to the end no matter what, especially against more fancied opposition. Speaking of which, up next are ladder-leaders Geelong. Then to round out the season, Casey—now sitting in 9th, two games out of the six—plays Essendon (4th), Box Hill (3rd) and Port Melbourne (5th). We’re going to need every bit of that fight to make the cut! FINAL SCORE: Southern Saints 4.7.31 Casey Demons 3.5.23 Casey goalkickers: 2 Burke, O’Neill VFLW standouts: Woolcock – 21 disposals, 4 marks, 5 tackles Fairchild – 17 disposals, 7 tackles, 3 clearances Conroy – 8 disposals, 4 tackles – liked her defensive efforts in the part I saw Burke – 2 goals, 10 disposals, 3 tackles AFLW listed: N/A Next week vs. Geelong (1st) Saturday 3rd of June, 12:00PM Deakin University Geelong

Round 9 vs. North Melbourne MATCH REPORT Casey lost Hogg to illness, while AFLW-listed Fowler and Sherriff were rested. Among the ins were former Magpie Proy, Neal, O’Connor and Woolcock. I tuned in just before halftime to see Casey stuck in a vortex of repeat stoppages in their defensive fifty. With the clock ticking down, the Demons were gritty. Just when I was celebrating their ability to prevent a score, a quick kick finally saw the ball exit the intense congestion, and Sheerin was waiting, switched on and ready to take the mark. A handy fifty-metre penalty saw her able to bolt up the field and send a spiral forward, which was collected by O’Neill who kicked truly from a distance. By playing right to the end, Casey was able to snag an important one in what had been a low-scoring affair to that stage. Casey by seven points at halftime, with both of the Demons’ goals coming via O’Neill. Casey was able to move the ball cleanly from the backline in the third, for goals to Fairchild and Danckert. We’ve definitely looked better in this regard in recent weeks and the forward connection is much stronger. Credit to the backline, who stood up when the ball was trapped in there for long periods. Special mention to Horne who despite being injured, went back into the fray before hobbling off. I guess we’ll never know what the goal for the Roos on the three-quarter-time siren looked like, as the cameraperson decided to focus on the scoreboard instead. That scoreboard showed the margin remained at seven points with two goals apiece for the quarter. Casey enjoyed some dominance out of the middle to start the last quarter and a third goal to O’Neill all but sealed the deal. From there, it was a bit of a scrap, with North kept to a solitary behind and the Demons, despite some good efforts, unable to make the most of some promising forays forward. Still, they kept the ball down there and got the win. That’s two wins on the trot and we climb to 8th on the ladder, in touch with the all-important top six. FINAL SCORE: Casey Demons 5.4.34 North Melbourne Kangaroos 3.3.21 Casey goalkickers: 3 O’Neill, Danckert, Fairchild VFLW standouts: O’Neill – 3 goals, 15 disposals, 6 marks. Such a crafty player when they can the ball in her hands. Just knows where the goals are and is super competitive at every contest. Swain – 62 hit outs (not a typo!), 4 clearances. Definitely making strides and adding to her game as the season goes on. She pretty much will always have size advantage, so loved seeing her taking it out of the ruck more, including for a goal (that was unfortunately disallowed). If she starts clunking those marks, watch out. Woolcock – 18 disposals, 3 marks. Was important in the defensive structure and had a big say in Casey’s ability to hold strong in that regard. Kirkwood – 13 disposals, 4 marks. Solid positioning and really led the way. Neal – 13 disposals, 12 tackles. Clean with the footy, intense without it. AFLW listed: N/A Next week vs. Southern Saints (2nd) Saturday 27th of May, 12:00PM RSEA Park

Thankful to Kozzy and his family for allowing this to be filmed and shared with all of us, very generous. This was really thoughtfully put together. We've always got more to learn and there's so much opportunity through our connection with Narrm. I hope we can be better and better in this space. (On a side note, how about the kid greeting Trac, "Love your cooking TikToks"!)

Gah! Not good! * goes to puppy thread *

Round 8 vs. Williamstown Match report Coming back into the team were Borchard, Horne and Dowler, while Sherriff played her first VFLW game since the 2021 elimination final. On debut up forward was Mornington youngster Sophie Butterworth. This game was a pleasure to watch with that famous scenic backdrop down at Williamstown. FIRST QUARTER On return Borchard was quickly into the action, gathering a loose ball and kicking truly to get Casey on the board three minutes in. The forwards then combined well to set up an easy shot at goal for Williams, who converted. Casey was getting the ball forward, and deep forward, with more ease than I’d seen for many weeks. Then Williamstown started to find more of the footy and got a goal out the back halfway through the term. A quick reply came via the debutant in Butterworth who made the most of a downfield free kick with a nice set shot. A defensive lapse led to a late chance for Williamstown, but only a minor score. Casey by 11 points. SECOND QUARTER While no score eventuated, the quarter began with some of the cleanest work by Casey out of the middle for a while. A follow-up tackle from Swain at the forward stoppage opened the door for Danckert to gather. Keohane rode the tackle well and then released to Burn, whose quick kick under pressure was on target. Williamstown then trapped the ball in their fifty for much of the quarter, with the wall up. Enjoyed Burn on the mark as a Seagulls player was given an absolute age to take a set shot, yelling an exasperated “Hurry up!”, which I like to think played a part in the shank that followed. The Demons needed some composure to avoid dump kicking to get it out with more success. The inside fifties piled up and eventually Williamstown made good with their second and third goals, cutting Casey’s lead to four points at halftime. THIRD QUARTER More clean centre bounce work to start off the quarter, with Swain tapping neatly into the path of Sherriff who hit up a leading O’Neill. A scrap ensued and Casey peppered the goals for a bit, before the Seagulls did the same, with neither team able to land a blow. The pressure went up a notch, with both teams sniffing victory and having a red hot crack. The stalemate was broken after Williams cut off a Williamstown kick-in and sent a booming kick forward. Keohane was taken out of the subsequent contest and goaled from almost directly in front for a 12-point lead. The Dees then went back-to-back via Rigoni, who showed some dash out of the middle before following up inside fifty and earning a holding free kick and goal. Swain was crucial in this quarter, on the way to 35 hit outs for the game, and plenty of those to good advantage. Casey by 17 points at the final change. FOURTH QUARTER Williamstown nabbed an early goal after controlling a loose ball and pressed hard in the opening stages. Casey held up well under pressure, but with 10 minutes to play, it felt closer than the 12-point margin. Casey needed to keep attacking, but unfortunately, it was the opposition who managed to break free, with another goal out the back. A timely off-the-ball free kick was a gift, but the Dees were unable to capitalise, and it felt a little early to call it a handy point, which proved correct, as the Seagulls soon scored a point of their own, and there was again a straight kick in it. Off a last-touch free kick on the wing, with the clock ticking down, Williamstown opted to switch to the far side and eventually brought the ball all the way back inside fifty…where Swain held a crucial mark. Repeat stoppages, a nice spoil by Sherriff and the Dees were able to scramble the ball to the safety, metre by metre. And then came the sweet relief of the siren! Looks like it was nine players as first-time winners as Casey edged up to ninth on the ladder: FINAL SCORE: Williamstown Seagulls 5.6.36 Casey Demons 6.6.42 Casey goalkickers: Williams, Rigoni, Keohane, Butterworth, Burn, Borchard VFLW standouts: Hogg – 15 disposals, 3 marks, 3 tackles. Played a big role in defence and really led the way for her teammates. Easily the best mark in the team. Kirkwood – 14 disposals, 5 marks, 6 tackles. Crucial intercept marking and really stood up in the second half. O’Neill – 7 disposals, 2 marks. Was more impactful than the stats suggest, with strong hands and some good tackles. Danckert – 19 disposals, 10 tackles, 5 clearances. Showed off all her skills in one passage where she smothered on the wing, gathered the spilled footy, broke a tackle and then executed a one-two with a teammate before finding a free teammate by foot in the centre corridor. Borchard – 1 goal, 10 disposals, 3 marks. Was especially busy early. Rigoni (for our vested interest given her family ties) – Wearing #34, yes that’s the inverse of Guy’s #43, she played on the wing, for 1 goal, 10 disposals and 5 tackles. Switched on, quick and clean with the footy, including a tap to herself and gather at one stage. Her goal was a confident set shot from thirty or so metres out directly in front. AFLW listed: Fowler – 9 disposals, 6 tackles, 4 clearances. I’d actually noticed her dash of halfback a couple of weeks back, without connecting number to name. You can see she wants to break the lines and use her speed. Sherriff – 14 disposals, 5 tackles, 4 clearances. Still with some strapping on that arm she broke two AFLW Grand Finals ago. A little rusty at first but worked into it, running through the midfield and up forward, even a few cameos in the ruck. Next week: vs. North Melbourne (8th) Saturday 20th of May, 11:00AM Casey Fields

This one's on topic at least:

The panel preparing the verdict:

There's been a bit of list turnover and definitely some good players went to expansion sides, although I'd say a good enough core remains. I think a lot of teams have improved while we've stagnated a bit. Similar will likely happen at AFLW level next season - you really have to improve a fair amount each year to stay ahead of the pack. The gap between best and worst might widen, but it'll be tighter between the top 8 or so teams. I'd say the number of AFLW players in our recent opponents has generally been comparable to us, maybe 1 or 2 more sometimes, but not huge differences. Unfortunately, we've played the weaker teams at the beginning when we were giving more AFLW players a run. Not sure that's been to anyone's benefit but that's how the fixture's fallen. Will be interesting to see how it's approached for the remainder with AFLW pre-season starting end of May.

Round 7 v Carlton Match report Didn’t get a chance to watch this one but was pleased to see Casey get a good start, getting out to an early 14-point lead. Carlton responded, taking a four-point lead into the main change. The Blues then kicked away in the third with four goals to the home team being the only scores in that quarter. To their credit, our Demons rallied in the last, holding the opposition to four points and kicking two much-needed goals of their own. It wasn’t enough though, and Carlton prevailed by 20 points. Judging by the stats, the gap between our best players and the rest is too wide at the moment to match the opposition. There are certainly some players having a red hot crack (Fairchild with 18 tackles) and it’s nice to see some more young players getting a go at this level. The Dees were able to match Carlton for inside 50s, but I suspect that, as in previous games, many of these may not have been with the structure we would like to maximise scoring opportunities. Plenty of work to do at the halfway point of the season: 2-5 and two games outside the top six. FINAL SCORE: Carlton Blues 7.7.49 Casey Demons 4.5.29 Casey goalkickers: Smith O’Neill Fairchild Danckert VFLW standouts: Fairchild – 1 goal, 14 disposals, 18 tackles Danckert – 1 goal, 8 disposals, 15 tackles, 5 clearances Rigoni – 16 disposals, 7 marks, 3 tackles [Jemma is the daughter of Guy Rigoni who played 107 games for MFC 1998-2005. Turning 19 next month, the Oakleigh Chargers and Vic Metro player missed the 2022 season with an ACL] O’Neill – 1 goal, 14 disposals, 3 tackles, 3 clearances AFLW listed: Fowler – The 19-year-old played her second game in Dees colours after being traded from GWS as a delisted free agent. 10 disposals, 3 tackles. Next week: vs. Williamstown (3-4) Sunday 14th of May, 2:00PM DSV Stadium

Haha, I'm sure our fans run the full sizing spectrum!

Good point! In this instance, of course, unisex really just means men's cut, which obviously they wouldn't be using for the actual AFLW indigenous jumpers. But yeah, maybe they won't be selling them as merch. All would be simpler if they just had a size guide, but based on other NB footy jumpers I should be right with a S. Too bad for anyone wanting an XS, though I guess the Youth ones are another option.

Love it! Tossing up whether to wait and see if they release an AFLW version in a women's cut... Probably should just grab one now and hope for the best in sizing. No size guide for some reason.

From that article: "...Chandler has been involved in 24.6 per cent of Melbourne's scores this year." Impressive!

Round 6 vs. Box Hill Hawks Casey travelled further east to take on the Box Hill Hawks at Wonthaggi, in a VFLW/VFL double-header. Q1 In a bit of a theme for this season, we gave up the first goal to the Hawks, although I will say that Casey started the game looking better at the contest than last week. The question, as always, was could they keep up the pressure? A nicely placed goal from the pocket by Brooke Smith evened things up. The last part of the quarter comprised repeated stoppages in the Hawks’ fifty. Casey defended staunchly and the Hawks failed to capitalise on a few chances. Sheer weight of attacks eventually took toll though, and the Hawks got their second major just before the siren. The Hawks controlled the ball better with eight marks to one for the quarter. Hawks by five points. Q2 The early stages saw a nice defensive mark to the big ruck in Swain—more of that from her would be handy. I liked the look of #13 with a bit of dash off half back but not quite sure who that was due to weird numbering on the team sheet. Hawks had most of the play in this quarter and were able to get the ball out the back in plenty of space. Casey put in a concerted effort midway through the term to scrap and push the ball forward but was let down by some high free kicks given away to stop the forward momentum. Most forward fifty entries were shallow. Shout out to Kinnane for a nice tackle on defensive fifty, although the Hawks’ marking power down the line saw it coming back fast. Hawks by 20. Q3 From here, it became a bit of a procession, with the Hawks well on top. The Demons were a bit “kick and hope” with their ball movement under pressure. Often in the midfield we have runners in the right place on the outside, just not clean enough to get the ball to them. Midway this quarter, I was drawn away from my viewing. And is so often the case, I was unsuccessful in finding my way to the replay without being spoiled for the score, at which point I called it quits! Q4… Judging from the final score, it seems the game continued on a similar trajectory. In the last quarter there was a consolation goal, courtesy of Gall, and the Dees managed to keep the Hawks goalless, but the damage was already done. That’s four losses on the trot, and we slump to ninth on the ladder. FINAL SCORE Box Hill Hawks 7.8.50 Casey Demons 2.5.17 Casey goalkickers: B.Smith, Gall VFLW standouts: Fairchild – 18 disposals, 9 tackles, 5 clearances. Great endeavour, led the way for Casey in disposals. O’Neill – 11 disposals, 7 tackles, 5 i- 50s. Always gives a great contest and tries to break the lines—not always with success but love her gusto, really proactive. Danckert – 15 disposals, 4 clearances. Was busy and looked a little cleaner than last week. Kirkwood – 11 disposals, 4 marks. Those marks were welcome! AFLW listed Gall – 1 goal, 12 disposals, 4 marks. Some good spoils and defensive marks and took the kick-ins to generally good effect. Moved to the forward line in the second half, as has been the pattern of the season. Next week: vs. Carlton (3-3) Saturday 6th of May, 2:15PM Ikon Park

If he went, I was going to pretend to be all stoic and whatever about it, but in reality I would 100% have cried and I don't think I've done that about a player leaving, ever. Just so happy now! I mean, just look at him:

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS! He just needed to get a few more spins out of the way and he was ready!

This is a bit of general question not specific to this game, but which of our players do you guys think gets the most out of himself with the least natural footballing talent? (I mean this in a complimentary way!) Thought this might generate some discussion from a different angle. Keep up the great work.

Obviously not all Tasmanians drafted will play there, but still. In recent times, especially good defensive players, for some reason: From: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-05-12/the-best-towns-and-suburbs-for-building-afl-talent/101055164

Round 5 v Southern Saints Match report I watched on via the live stream this week as the Demons took on the Saints in uncharacteristically calm conditions at Casey Fields. Both teams fielded just two AFLW-listed players each. A notable absence for the Demons was Burke, who has provided most of Casey’s scoring power so far in the season. Q1 Casey likely wanted a good start after a couple of slow ones but the Saints still struck early, though Casey hit back quickly with a goal through Keohane. The Saints looked more structured going forward and had more of the play and territory for the majority of the quarter. A great intercept mark by Hogg and precise pass forward at pace with five minutes to go allowed Casey to keep the ball trapped inside fifty for the remainder of the quarter. The Demons had the wall set up outside fifty, but not much to go to in the way of marking targets. There were a few late chances from a deep stoppage but only behinds resulted. Saints by 5 points. Q2 Casey spent much of the early stages struggling to exit defensive fifty, though the Saints failed to capitalise, with a poor set shot and an almost-incredible snap from the boundary. A badly directed kick-out put Casey back under pressure immediately and that was the theme of the game, while the Saints were able to lead up to the footy and find space. The Demons were outnumbered at the ball and lucky to only concede one goal in the quarter. Saints by 13 points. Q3 The Saints got it straight out of the centre again to start the quarter. Casey desperately needed to find some more composed possession to escape the Saints’ pressure (tackles 41-80 by game’s end). Casey finally with some good ball movement forward via a nice kick from Wilson and mark to Gall and then quick play on to Kirkwood, only to be stymied again at the fifty. Great back-to-back smothers B.Smith then Kirkwood showed great intent, but an excellent goal from Burke for the Saints all but sealed the deal. Saints by 25. Q4 The Saints retained the ascendancy out of the middle and a lack of lead-up forwards continued to cause issues for the Demons. Some welcome forward connection saw Fairchild take a mark but a behind was the only eventual result. Late in the game, Gall found some space and made the most of it, taking a nice mark and quickly taking a set shot with confidence. But the Saints were quick to reply—their sustained pressure throughout the game must be commended as well as their ball movement going forward. Casey had the bulk of the hit-outs in the ruck (40-26) but the Saints were clearly on top once it hit the deck (29-37 clearances), and the big ruck in Swain’s height advantage wasn’t well utilised as a target down the line. The forwards were starved of opportunity and when the ball did arrive, it certainly wasn’t on a platter. Now on a three-game losing streak, the Demons have some work to do. Hopefully experience is growing in dealing with pressure on the ball carrier and some more cohesion is on its way as the team gels. FINAL SCORE: Casey Demons 2.5.17 Southern Saints 9.5.59 Casey goalkickers: Keohane Gall VFLW standouts: Danckert – 19 disposals, 6 tackles, 7 clearances. Very busy and some strong tackling for the ex-Suns AFLW player. Woolcock – 16 disposals, 3 marks, 4 tackles. Worked hard in defence under a lot of pressure. Fairchild – 16 disposals, 3 tackles. Tried hard and had some good clean touches, which were hard to come by. Neal – 11 disposals, 4 tackles. Didn’t get heaps of the ball but did a lot of the heavy lifting around the contest. Kirkwood – 11 disposals, 3 tackles. Smart and hardworking, did her best to kickstart her teammates. AFLW listed: Gall – 1 goal, 5 disposals, 2 marks. Played up forward, looked a bit off the pace at times and would have liked to be more of a marking target. Wilson – 14 disposals, 6 marks. Stood up strong in defence. Moved onto the ball in the second half for some more class there, which left a gap down back. Next week: vs. Box Hill (2-2-1) Sunday 30th of April, 11.30AM Wonthaggi Recreation Reserve