Search the Community

The Casey Scorpions had a horror game against the Box Hill Hawks at Box Hill City Oval going down by 74 points in demoralising fashion. The Scorpions were hit hard by the withdrawal through illness of in form defender Jack Fitzpatrick but still came into the game like their opponents with 13 AFL listed players. However, you wouldn't be able to tell that by the way the game unfolded. There was an ill wind blowing across City Oval as the game opened under cloudy skies and on sodden turf and, apart from the opening half of the first quarter when early goals came to Nathan Page and Jordan Moncrieff, they were barely in the hunt, trailing by 27 points at half time and meekly allowing the Box Hill lead to blow out with a 10-goal second half. The result was embarrassing for a team that until a week or two ago had top four aspirations. The Scorpions are sorely missing key forwards Tim Smith and Max King and are lacking focus in the forward division. The Hawks' defence was on top throughout and continually repelled every Casey attack. The Scorpions had Mark Jamar and Jake Spencer in ruck but not dominating as usual against the Hawks. The latter played at his best when up forward and managed two goals. Aidan Riley stood out like a beacon among the Scorpion' midfielders, dominating with 35 possessions and five tackles. Rohan Bail kicked a couple and looked good when he was allowed the space to run with the ball but the opportunity was limited with the well drilled Hawks covering all bases. Ben Newton, Jay Kennedy-Harris and Dean Terlich had some good patches while Christian Salem (19 touches) looks not far away from resuming at the higher level. His ball use at times was excellent. An interesting team member was 23rd player Jake Lovett, son of former Demon star and Casey coach Brett. The 18 year-old from the Dandenong Stingrays had an encouraging debut given the team's poor performance. The result leaves the team two games and percentage clear of a long list of contenders with three rounds of VFL competition left to play but desperately needing at least one win. That prospect is not very encouraging in the very near term given their next game is against second-placed Williamstown at home this Saturday afternoon. Peter Jackson VFL Casey Scorpions 2.1.13 4.5.29 4.7.31 7.7.49 Box Hill Hawks 4.3.27 8.8.56 14.11.95 18.15.123 Casey Scorpions Goals Casey Scorpions Bail Spencer 2 Byrnes Moncrieff Page Box Hill Hawks Lawlor 4 Grimley 4 O'Brien 2 Lock Anderson Whitecross O'Donnell Pittonet Litherland Exon Gibson Best Casey Scorpions Bail Riley Kielty Byrnes Newton Box Hill Hawks Lawlor Collins Simpkin Heatherley Whitecross Pittonet Statistics Rohan Bail 2 goals 23 disposals 11 kicks 12 handballs 4 marks 4 tackles 88 dream team points Jayden Hunt 6 disposals 4 kicks 2 handballs 4 marks 25 dream team points Mark Jamar 15 disposals 14 kicks 1 handball 5 marks 5 tackles 24 hit outs 100 dream team points Jay Kennedy-Harris - 24 disposals 13 kicks 11 handballs 4 marks 2 tackles 82 dream team points Jordie McKenzie - 17 disposals 9 kicks 8 handballs 2 marks 4 tackles 67 dream team points Ben Newton - 15 disposals 11 kicks 4 handballs 1 mark 5 tackles 61 dream team points Aidan Riley - 1 behind 35 disposals 13 kicks 22 handballs 2 marks 5 tackles 114 dream team points Christian Salem - 23 disposals 13 kicks 10 handballs 6 marks 4 tackles 90 dream team points Jake Spencer - 2 goals 14 disposals 7 kicks 7 handballs 5 marks 3 tackles 23 hit outs 92 dream team points Billy Stretch - 11 disposals 4 kicks 7 handballs 2 marks 2 tackles 41 dream team points Dean Terlich 1 behind - 21 disposals 13 kicks 8 handballs 3 marks 2 tackles 65 dream team points Jimmy Toumpas 6 disposals 2 kicks 4 handballs 1 mark 1 tackle 12 dream team points Mitch White 14 disposals 10 kicks 4 handballs 4 marks 4 tackles 1 hit out 67 dream team points The Casey development team came down to earth with a thud going down to ladder-leader Box Hill, going down by 67 points. AFL Victoria Development League Casey Scorpions 1.2.8 3.4.22 3.6.24 4.10.34 Box Hill Hawks 4.4.28 6.4.40 11.9.75 15.11.101 Casey Scorpions Goals Casey Scorpions Fisscher Muir Rennie Rosier Box Hill Hawks Murphy 3 Franetic Lewis Tobin 2 Kidd Langford Sheridan-Ferrie Summers Traynor Vizzarri Best Casey Scorpions Hannon McDonald Pattison Hillard Walmsley Fisscher Box Hill Hawks Traynor Murphy Bond Langford Evans Switkowski

SCORPIONS RULE AT WINDY BOX HILL by K C from Casey The Casey Scorpions shrugged off the loss of players to injury, illness and AFL promotion to record a significant victory at Box Hill City Oval on Saturday. Casey had first use of the tricky breeze and dominated from the outset with former Demon skipper Brad Green providing great drive and Liam Jurrah proving elusive and a difficult customer to handle. The Casey listed players were also out to prove a point after they were shunned by VFL selectors for the forthcoming representative match against Tasmania. Luke Tynan continued to show improvement with a great four quarter effort to finish with 24 disposals and he was particularly impressive in the early going. Rian McGough and Matt Fieldsend chipped in with the game's first two goals as the visitors opened up a 12 point lead at the first break. The home side came back strongly in the early stages of the second term but both teams were off target and the game was sinking into a lacklustre contest of defences until the experience of Lynden Dunn and the class of Jurrah and Jack Watts pressed home the advantage in favour of the Scorpions. With Tynan, Sam Blease and Dan Nicholson opening up the game with good running, the team piled on the next three unanswered goals to go into the sheds having doubled their lead during the quarter. The Scorpions were now unstoppable and they simply dominated the "premiership quarter" with five goals to nil in a great team performance that saw some of the young unsung members of the team come to the fore. Names such as Mitch Gent, Ricky Plummer and last year’s reserves best and fairest Tynan are not well known at present in VFL circles but they continued to contribute in the shadow of the bigger names in the side. The Demons also look to have uncovered some talent for the future in Rory Taggert (26 disposals) and defenders Troy Davis and Jai Sheahan who were solid all day. With the game well and truly won by the final break, Box Hill broke through for some goals early in the final term but coach Brett Lovett would have to be pleased with the persistence of his players who re-established their ascendency late in the game to run out easy winners by 52 points. He must also be delighted with the improvement of his own VFL listed players who stood up in the absence of injured players such as co-captain Kyle Matthews and Wade Lees as well as the way in which they are gelling with their AFL counterparts, a few of who would surely have earned a trip to Sydney for the coming weekend. Casey goes into the bye in second place and with the interstate game to follow does not play again until June although an intraclub practice match is being mooted to ensure the momentum of the past weeks can be retained. HOW THE DEMONS FARED Sam Blease - great pace and attack on the football. His defensive efforts were much better this week. Lucas Cook - played well in flashes only but he was not helped by the swirly winds. Troy Davis - a solid effort deep in defence where he displayed all the necessary desperation and skills. Lynden Dunn - won a lot of the ball (27 disposals) and was reasonably effective with his marking, kicking and ball movement in general. Put his hand up. Brad Green - too much class for this company and if his fitness holds up should be back in the big time next week. Liam Jurrah - was in good touch early and is clearly ready to return to the AFL at long last. Kelvin Lawrence - working harder and longer during the course of each game. Joel Macdonald - solid and unobtrusive but will find it difficult to win a promotion. Stefan Martin - has overcome a hip problem and did some very nice things during the game including nailing a nice pass for a goal with finesse. Daniel Nicholson - plenty of run and carry with good pace but lets himself down from time to time with poor disposal. Kicked 0.4. Jai Sheahan - despite the conditions which would not usually suit someone of his height, Sheahan continues to put in solid dependable performances in defence that belie the fact that he is a rookie listed player. Jake Spencer - he's slow and not particularly well co-ordinated but plugs away and works hard. Still on the comeback trail so hard to be too critical. Rory Taggert - a fantastic effort from the youngster who missed much of the pre season and several early games with a back injury. Showed good skills and endeavour, kicked a couple of goals and surprised with his class. Luke Tapscott - a strong display. Showed out with good disposal. Jack Watts - at this stage of his career he is not a crash and bash artist and won't be until he puts on more weight. However, playing on a wing, he was simply too classy for the opposition and most of his 25 possessions hit their mark. Casey Scorpions 2.5.15 5.10.40 10.14.74 13.19.97 Box Hill Hawks 0.5.5 1.10.16 1.14.20 5.15.45 Goals Casey Scorpions Fieldsend Taggert 2 Blease Cook Gent Jurrah McGough Martin Riseley Tapscott Watts Box Hill Hawks Hughes 2 McCauley Wanganeen Best Casey Scorpions L Tynan Taggert Davis Plummer Fieldsend Nicholson Box Hill Hawks Murphy Mirra Pattison Hughes Jones Bruce 2012 AFL Vic Development League Casey Scorpions 3.6.24 5.9.39 10.15.75 14.18.102 Port Melbourne 0.4.4 3.9.27 5.11.41 7.13.55 Goals Casey Scorpions Smith 5 Cleven Page Petropoulos 2 Collins Clay Johnson Port Melbourne Bond Francis Jawad Morris O'Sullivan Sutcliffe Teasdale Best Casey Scorpions Pollard Lang Collins Patti Page Allen Port Melbourne Johnston McCarthy Sutcliffe Thornton Williams Collopy The Casey Development League team does have a game next week - an away fixture on Sunday at 11am against Frankston.

SCORPIONS RULE AT WINDY BOX HILL by K C from Casey The Casey Scorpions shrugged off the loss of players to injury, illness and AFL promotion to record a significant victory at Box Hill City Oval on Saturday. Casey had first use of the tricky breeze and dominated from the outset with former Demon skipper Brad Green providing great drive and Liam Jurrah proving elusive and a difficult customer to handle. The Casey listed players were also out to prove a point after they were shunned by VFL selectors for the forthcoming representative match against Tasmania. Luke Tynan continued to show improvement with a great four quarter effort to finish with 24 disposals and he was particularly impressive in the early going. Rian McGough and Matt Fieldsend chipped in with the game's first two goals as the visitors opened up a 12 point lead at the first break. The home side came back strongly in the early stages of the second term but both teams were off target and the game was sinking into a lacklustre contest of defences until the experience of Lynden Dunn and the class of Jurrah and Jack Watts pressed home the advantage in favour of the Scorpions. With Tynan, Sam Blease and Dan Nicholson opening up the game with good running, the team piled on the next three unanswered goals to go into the sheds having doubled their lead during the quarter. The Scorpions were now unstoppable and they simply dominated the "premiership quarter" with five goals to nil in a great team performance that saw some of the young unsung members of the team come to the fore. Names such as Mitch Gent, Ricky Plummer and last year’s reserves best and fairest Tynan are not well known at present in VFL circles but they continued to contribute in the shadow of the bigger names in the side. The Demons also look to have uncovered some talent for the future in Rory Taggert (26 disposals) and defenders Troy Davis and Jai Sheahan who were solid all day. With the game well and truly won by the final break, Box Hill broke through for some goals early in the final term but coach Brett Lovett would have to be pleased with the persistence of his players who re-established their ascendency late in the game to run out easy winners by 52 points. He must also be delighted with the improvement of his own VFL listed players who stood up in the absence of injured players such as co-captain Kyle Matthews and Wade Lees as well as the way in which they are gelling with their AFL counterparts, a few of who would surely have earned a trip to Sydney for the coming weekend. Casey goes into the bye in second place and with the interstate game to follow does not play again until June although an intraclub practice match is being mooted to ensure the momentum of the past weeks can be retained. HOW THE DEMONS FARED Sam Blease - great pace and attack on the football. His defensive efforts were much better this week. Lucas Cook - played well in flashes only but he was not helped by the swirly winds. Troy Davis - a solid effort deep in defence where he displayed all the necessary desperation and skills. Lynden Dunn - won a lot of the ball (27 disposals) and was reasonably effective with his marking, kicking and ball movement in general. Put his hand up. Brad Green - too much class for this company and if his fitness holds up should be back in the big time next week. Liam Jurrah - was in good touch early and is clearly ready to return to the AFL at long last. Kelvin Lawrence - working harder and longer during the course of each game. Joel Macdonald - solid and unobtrusive but will find it difficult to win a promotion. Stefan Martin - has overcome a hip problem and did some very nice things during the game including nailing a nice pass for a goal with finesse. Daniel Nicholson - plenty of run and carry with good pace but lets himself down from time to time with poor disposal. Kicked 0.4. Jai Sheahan - despite the conditions which would not usually suit someone of his height, Sheahan continues to put in solid dependable performances in defence that belie the fact that he is a rookie listed player. Jake Spencer - he's slow and not particularly well co-ordinated but plugs away and works hard. Still on the comeback trail so hard to be too critical. Rory Taggert - a fantastic effort from the youngster who missed much of the pre season and several early games with a back injury. Showed good skills and endeavour, kicked a couple of goals and surprised with his class. Luke Tapscott - a strong display. Showed out with good disposal. Jack Watts - at this stage of his career he is not a crash and bash artist and won't be until he puts on more weight. However, playing on a wing, he was simply too classy for the opposition and most of his 25 possessions hit their mark. Casey Scorpions 2.5.15 5.10.40 10.14.74 13.19.97 Box Hill Hawks 0.5.5 1.10.16 1.14.20 5.15.45 Goals Casey Scorpions Fieldsend Taggert 2 Blease Cook Gent Jurrah McGough Martin Riseley Tapscott Watts Box Hill Hawks Hughes 2 McCauley Wanganeen Best Casey Scorpions L Tynan Taggert Davis Plummer Fieldsend Nicholson Box Hill Hawks Murphy Mirra Pattison Hughes Jones Bruce 2012 AFL Vic Development League Casey Scorpions 3.6.24 5.9.39 10.15.75 14.18.102 Port Melbourne 0.4.4 3.9.27 5.11.41 7.13.55 Goals Casey Scorpions Smith 5 Cleven Page Petropoulos 2 Collins Clay Johnson Port Melbourne Bond Francis Jawad Morris O'Sullivan Sutcliffe Teasdale Best Casey Scorpions Pollard Lang Collins Patti Page Allen Port Melbourne Johnston McCarthy Sutcliffe Thornton Williams Collopy The Casey Development League team does have a game next week - an away fixture on Sunday at 11am against Frankston.