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When they locked up the rooms for summer at the end of last year’s football season, the rooms gathered cobwebs, the atmosphere became dense and the place developed a sleepy feel. They opened up the rooms to let Casey out to play on Sunday but the team was still hibernating and they missed the bulk of the opening quarter. By the time they worked out it was game on, their opponents from Box Hill had accumulated five goals and, if the game wasn’t over, it might as well have been. For a season opener at their home ground, this was a major disappointment for the Casey Demons who were uncompetitive for so much of the game. It began in the middle where the Hawks dominated in the ruck as well as at the stoppages. There were times when the home side worked to regain the momentum such as was the case in the latter half of the second term but the Hawks were always in control and their pressure game constantly forced turnovers that were uncharacteristic of any Casey team of the past decade. Adding to the disappointment was the fact that some key injuries and an upcoming heavy schedule for Melbourne have opened up places at a higher level which demand standout performances that simply didn’t eventuate. I mentioned the dominance of the Box Hill engine room and the Demons would be lamenting the loss of regulars such as Luke Dunstan, James Harms, Jimmy Munro and co. who previously gave the midfield such a hard edge. The vacuum left by their will take a while to be adequately filled. Of the players in contention for higher places, Adam Tomlinson would have been close to the front of the line given that a couple of key defenders at AFL level are in doubt for the month ahead. As it was, Tomlinson’s game in Melbourne’s season opener wasn’t all that shabby. He certainly put his hand up to fill a key defensive spot with his 24-disposal display. Former Brisbane Lions big man cum forward, Tom Fullarton was also under consideration for a chance to be called up. He had some moments with his 12 disposals and ten hit outs but he paled in the shadows of the more dynamic Box Hill ruck lineup. One youngster with big wraps about him is Koltyn Tholstrup, a teenager with senior state league experience at Subiaco in the West. He impressed with his 18 disposals and a cool head under pressure and shouldn’t take long to make the step up to another level. Kynan Brown worked hard in the tough environment of a team that simply failed to gel further afield. Others who had their moments were Bailey Laurie who kicked a goal and had 21 touches and Andy Moniz-Wakefield and Taj Woewodin, each with 19 disposals. The standout among Casey listers was former Magpie VFL team leader Campbell Hustwaite who was the best of the team’s midfielders and promises to be a big feature at Casey in the future. Another newcomer, Caleb Lewis looked promising early but faded after half time after kicking a nice goal in the second term. All in all however, it was a nightmare of a game in which the Hawks were a class above making it an occasion to forget. It is expected that Melbourne will take an expanded squad to Adelaide and remain in the city between its next two games so the Casey Demons can expect to have much less than the dozen Demon listed players they had available for the season opener when they take on Footscray next Saturday afternoon at Casey Fields. Let’s hope they don’t miss their wake up call for that assignment. CASEY DEMONS 1.3.9 3.5.23 4.6.30 6.10.46 BOX HILL HAWKS 5.6.36 6.9.45 10.13.73 12.15.87 GOALS CASEY DEMONS Cross Hustwaite Laurie Lewis Schache Steele BOX HILL HAWKS Butler 3 Meek 2 Hall Parsons Ramsden Rule Stefanakis Tucker Wood BEST CASEY DEMONS Hustwaite Woewodin Tomlinson Fullarton Moniz-Wakefield Laurie BOX HILL HAWKS Meek Hustwaite Morrison Serong Butler C Brown Statistics Jed Adams 4 kicks 2 handballs 6 disposals 2 marks 1 tackles 26 dream team points Kynan Brown 5 kicks 9 handballs 14 disposals 2 marks 3 tackles 53 dream team points Leo Connolly 5 kicks 5 handballs 10 disposals 2 marks 28 dream team points Paddy Cross 1 goal 4 kicks 4 handballs 8 disposals 2 marks 32 dream team points Tyler Edwards 8 kicks 8 handballs 16 disposals 5 marks 1 tackle 60 dream team points Kyah Farris-White 1 handball 2 dream team points Tom Freeman 5 kicks 7 handballs 12 disposals 3 marks 1 tackle 44 dream team points Tom Fullarton 9 kicks 3 handballs 12 disposals 1 mark 3 tackles 10 hitouts 55 dream team points Andrew Green 4 kicks 2 handballs 6 disposals 2 marks 2 tackles 30 dream team points Campbell Husthwaite 1 goal 5 kicks 18 handballs 23 disposals 5 marks 3 tackles 82 dream team points Matt Jefferson 7 kicks 1 handballs 8 disposals 4 marks 32 dream team points Bailey Laurie 1 goal 1 behind 11 kicks 10 handballs 21 disposals 2 marks 1 tackle 67 dream team points Caleb Lewis 1 goal 1 behind 3 kicks 2 handballs 5 disposals 1 mark 22 dream team points Andy Moniz-Wakefield 11 kicks 8 handballs 19 disposals 5 marks 5 tackles 1 hitout 80 dream team points Ned Moodie 2 kicks 10 handballs 12 disposals 1 marks 2 tackles 38 dream team points Harvey Neocleous 6 kicks 2 handballs 8 disposals 1 marks 25 dream team points Josh Schache 1 goal 3 behinds 7 kicks 2 handballs 9 disposals 5 marks 1 tackle 53 dream team points Roan Steele 1 goal 2 behinds 8 kicks 6 handballs 14 disposals 2 marks 4 tackles 63 dream team points Koltyn Tholstrup 9 kicks 9 handballs 18 disposals 4 marks 6 tackles 81 dream team points Adam Tomlinson 20 kicks 4 handballs 24 disposals 6 marks 86 dream team points Will Verrall 1 behind 5 kicks 4 handballs 9 disposals 1 mark 10 hitouts 37 dream team points Mitch White 1 behind 12 kicks 6 handballs 18 disposals 3 marks 4 tackles 71 dream team points Taj Woewodin 12 kicks 7 handballs 19 disposals 7 marks 2 tackles 76 dream team points

After the disappointment of the home loss to Richmond VFL, the Casey Demons’ next challenge was to take on the undefeated Box Hill Hawks in unfamiliar bush surroundings at Wonthaggi. The trip to the country did them no harm because, at the end of the game, they were well and truly back in town. The Demons signalled their intentions early with strong attack on the football. A nice passage of play saw Ben Brown goal five minutes into the game with help from James Harmes and Tom McDonald. Despite being well beaten early in the ruck the Demons held sway for the first half of the opening term but the Hawks grabbed the momentum to boot three goals before McDonald goaled late to make the deficit five points at quarter time. Casey came out after the break full of purpose. The instigator of the comeback was Joel Smith returning from injury. Playing in attack, he kicked his first goal to level the score and, after Taj Woewodin’s goal to put the Demons in front, Smith kicked his second. Box Hill was not to be undone and the Hawks fought back once more to reduce Casey’s lead to single figures deep into the opening half. But Smith was on fire. He scored his third goal for the day at the 32 minute mark but Jake Melksham’s remarkably slick goal from the boundary a minute later had the crowd in raptures as the team stretched the lead to 17 points at the halfway mark. The game opened up after the break with the Hawks scoring first followed by another smart goal from Melksham. Bailey Laurie and Ollie Sestan added to Casey’s tally with Melksham chiming in with his third. By the final break Casey was 23 points in front. The Demons coasted home to a five goal victory at the end with Melksham adding two more to his tally in a best on ground performance. The team was bolstered by the return of skipper Mitch White, as resolute as ever. It was well served in defence by the likes of Tomlinson, Daniel Turner and Blake Howes. Last week’s hero Luke Dunstan limped off in the third quarter with what appeared to be a calf injury. Like their AFL affiliate, the Casey Demons are back in second place and have another challenge coming up when they face up to another undefeated team, the Gold Coast Suns on their home deck at Carrara next Saturday. CASEY DEMONS 2.3.15 8.5.53 13.7.85 16.10.106 BOX HILL HAWKS 3.3.21 5.6.36 9.8.62 11.10.76 GOALS CASEY DEMONS Melksham 5 J Smith 3 McDonald Woewoedin 2 Brown Jefferson Laurie Sestan BOX HILL HAWKS Jeka Koschitzke 2 Bramble Butler McDonald Mascitti O’Sullivan Porter Stanley BEST CASEY DEMONS Melksham White J Smith Tomlinson McDonald Harmes BOX HILL HAWKS Brown Meek McDonald McKenzie Butler Koschitzke Statistics Jed Adams 3 kicks 2 handballs 5 disposals 2 marks 19 dream team points Jack Bell 7 kicks 1 handball 8 disposals 3 tackles 14 hit outs 51 dream team points Ben Brown 1 goals 1 behind 7 kicks 2 handballs 9 disposals 5 marks 1 tackle 48 dream team points Matt Buntine 6 kicks 3 handballs 9 disposals 1 mark 2 tackles 32 dream team points Luke Dunstan 5 kicks 6 handballs 11 disposals 3 marks 1 tackle 40 dream team points Zane Duursma 3 kicks 6 handballs 9 disposals 2 tackles 29 dream team points Kyah Ferris-White 1 handball 1 disposal 1 tackle 5 hit outs 11 dream team points Max Gregory 2 kicks 5 handballs 7 disposals 2 marks 22 dream team points George Grey 4 kicks 5 handballs 9 disposals 1 mark 2 tackles 33 dream team points James Harmes 1 behind 13 kicks 12 handballs 25disposals 5 marks 2 tackles 83 dream team points Blake Howes 5 kicks 5 handballs 10 disposals 4 marks 1 tackle 41 dream team points Matt Jefferson 1 goal 5 kicks 2 handballs 7 disposals 5 marks 1 tackle 44 dream team points Bailey Laurie 1 goal 6 kicks 12 handballs 18 disposals 1 mark 5 tackles 65 dream team points Tom McDonald 2 goals 1 behind 11 kicks 3 handballs 14 disposals 8 marks 2 tackles 1 hit out 85 dream team points Jake Melksham 5 goals 2 behinds 13 kicks 4 handballs17 disposals 6 marks 1 tackle 101 dream team points Oliver Sestan 1 goal 8 kicks 1 handballs 9 disposals 1 mark 5 tackles 47 dream team points Deaykin Smith 6 kicks 6 handballs 12 disposals 4 marks 2 tackles 51 dream team points Joel Smith 3 goals 1 behind 10 kicks 4 handballs 14 disposals 7 marks 3 tackles 91 dream team points Roan Steele 8 kicks 1 handball 9 disposals 3 marks 2 tackles 44 dream team points Adam Tomlinson 15 kicks 6 handballs 21 disposals 8marks 1 tackle 1 hit out 86 dream team points Daniel Turner 11 kicks 1 handballs 12 disposals 7 marks 1 tackle 62 dream team points Mitch White 18 kicks 5 handballs 23 disposals 4 marks 6 tackles 97 dream team points Taj Woewodin 2 goals 1 behind 9 kicks 3 handballs 12 disposals 2 marks 4 tackles 64 dream team points