CASEY coach Justin Plapp says building a close alignment with Melbourne has been one of the strong focuses over the pre-season.
Speaking in the lead-up to Casey’s first match of the VFL home and away season against Frankston at Casey Fields on Sunday, Plapp said the ability to replicate the game similarities between the Demons and Scorpions had been one of the strong achievements over the summer.
“We’ve worked very hard over the summer to make the alignment as smooth as possible,” he said.
“We want to align our style, themes and the way we go about it – it’s very similar to how it’s done at AFL level. It creates an environment to develop our footy and there are some real similarities about that.
“One of the biggest differences this year is that we’ve already coached some consistent themes and we’ve already benefitted from that.”
Plapp said Casey’s practice match series had been very encouraging.
“All of those teams that we played in the practice matches finished in the top six last year,” he said.
“Box Hill played off in the Grand Final, Port Melbourne finished on top of the ladder, Werribee got through to the second semi and Collingwood got through to the second semi and Williamstown got knocked out in the prelim final. So we played against teams that had a good representation of finals footy last year.
“Box Hill, Port and Williamstown have been really strong for over an extended period … so we think we’re in pretty good shape from an alignment point of view and Casey point of view about the way we want to play our football.
“There have been some really pleasing outcomes and positive results, so we go into round one in pretty good shape, but we’ve still got a bit of improvement that we need to keep tinkering with.”
Evan Panozza will captain Casey again this season, while the club has also gained some good recruits, including former Gold Coast player Jack Hutchins, who played 19 matches for Gold Coast from 2011-14.
“He’s a medium-defender, powerful player and was a player the Gold Coast listed from the start. He’s been a real asset to our Casey list,” Plapp said.
Dual Geelong premiership player and former Demon Shannon Byrnes will play for Casey this year, after joining the off-field staff in a hybrid role. Byrnes has already been doing some coaching, assisting in welfare and will now play for the Scorpions in the VFL this year.
“His representation of the footy club and what he gives us from a footy point of view, plus his off-field is work, is worth its weight in gold,” Plapp said.
Jordan Moncrieff, a 198cm tall, and the son of 1976 and 1978 Hawthorn premiership player Michael, has also been recruited to Casey.
James Munro, a medium defender from Sandringham Zebras, who did a pre-season with Melbourne, has also joined Casey. Tom Muir, originally from Gippsland Power, has come from Glenelg. Lucas Walmsley has also been plucked out of the Southern Football League to play for Casey this year.
