DEVELOPMENT coach Andrew Nichol says the opportunity for Melbourne listed players to play for Casey in the VFL finals will be an enormous benefit for their development.
Nichol, who is also backline coach for Casey, said that the level would be a greater intensity and closer to an AFL match.
“While Josh Tynan, for example, has played two AFL matches, both last year – he hasn’t played at that level this season. Dom Barry also hasn’t played senior footy, so this will be as close to senior AFL footy as these guys have experienced,” he told melbournefc.com.au.
“You look at a Dean Terlich last year, who played good footy, but had a dominant Grand Final in the SANFL, and all of a sudden, he’s drafted and had a really strong year for us.
“As far as setting players up, it’s really important in their development and it’s important for us as a club, when Melbourne and Casey make finals, that we win finals and start developing that winning culture.”
Nichol said the fact that Casey will be playing Geelong at Simonds Stadium under lights on Friday will also be a great experience for the Melbourne listed players.
“We’re going to have players lining up on the likes of Josh Hunt, who is a two time AFL premiership player, so there will be some learning experiences for our team,” he said.
“Certainly, we’ll be expecting the players to have a clear understanding after the game in terms of where they sit in the scheme of the competition, and where they sit now, so that will be good.”
Nichol said Casey, which finished fourth and will play top of the table Geelong at Simonds Stadium in the first qualifying final at Simonds Stadium on Friday night, had produced a “pretty strong season”.
“The boys won enough games to give themselves the double chance. They lost a close game last week by two points, which would’ve given us a home final, and our numbers this week going into the game from a Melbourne point of view were probably as low as they’ve been all year,” he said.
“That certainly presents some really exciting challenges for those players who are playing for Melbourne and the team as a whole, as far as really strong competitive efforts against a side that’s the reigning premier on their home ground, in front of a reasonable crowd down there.
“So it’s certainly going to present a massive challenge for the team, but it’s a challenge everyone is really excited about.”
Melbourne listed players Mark Jamar, Cameron Pedersen, Tom Gillies, Tom Couch, Josh Tynan and Dom Barry will definitely play, and Nichol said the expectation was that Casey needed to be as competitive as it could be.
“From there, who knows what will unfold,” he said.
“We’ve played some of our worst footy when we’ve had 15 or 16 Melbourne players in the Casey team. Because the numbers are lower – it doesn’t necessary translate to a massive performance.
“We’re just expecting that every Melbourne player and every Casey listed player will be as competitive as they can be. That’s all we can expect from them, and if that’s good enough for them to win on the night, so be it.”
