The Casey Demons had an astounding 59-point win over Richmond on Saturday.
After a big win in the first week of the VFL, Casey travelled to the Swinburne Centre (Punt Road Oval) to take on the reigning premiers in round two.
The Demons were eager to take on one of the competition’s champion sides in the Tigers, who had a 40-point win over Sandringham the previous week.
The first quarter saw Richmond jump straight out of the blocks with an early goal, before the Demons had time to compose themselves.
Casey steadied and began to make more of each contest, with the forwards presenting well and providing good forward line pressure.
Ben Brown was the first goal-scorer of the game for Casey, from a 50-metre penalty that was awarded after a Tigers defender ran through the mark.
The Demons then picked up the tempo with a beautiful passage of play from the backline going coast to coast, with captain Mitch White scoring his first goal of the game.
By quarter time, the Demons had a handy 18-point lead with five different goal scorers. Tom McCaffrey and Tom Sparrow were the way with eight disposals each.
Casey really started to control the game in the second quarter, denying Richmond their natural game whilst also holding the Tigers to a single goal for the term.
The Demons continued to apply the pressure, resulting in a few free kicks in their favour, which they didn’t hesitate in capitalising on.
Ben Brown had a big quarter kicking two goals, taking him to three for the game, whilst Cory Machaya kicked his first.
By half time, the Demons had a comfortable 33-point lead. Sparrow was providing plenty of drive around the ball, leading with 15 touches, whilst Jimmy Munro and Neville Jetta were solid contributors with 14 and 13 possessions each.
The third quarter saw Richmond start with the first goal, but the Demons responded immediately with Ben Brown adding his fourth goal of the day from a sensational one-handed grab.
The rain started to fall heavily midway through the third quarter, making any lead that Casey had a significant one.
When the siren blew at three-quarter time the Demons had extended out their lead to 51 points.
Youngster Jake Bowey was also starting to find more of the footy, leading the way with 20 disposals.
The rain continued into the last term, and some did the Demons’ pressure.
Sam Weideman was strong in finishing out the game, adding two more goals in the last quarter, which saw the Demons come our 59-point victors.
Bowey ended the game with the most touches for Casey on 26, with 14 kicks, 12 handballs and five marks, whilst Oskar Baker was also effective with 24 disposals.
Both Brown (four goals) and Weideman (three goals) were once again dominant and a handful for the opposition’s defenders, along with five other goal scorers for the game.
Melbourne Media spoke with senior Coach Mark Corrigan post-game about the win.
“We spoke to the boys in the weeks gone by about playing four quarters,” he said.
“We hadn’t quite got there yet, however, today was a really pleasing four-quarter effort, which was great to see.
“We embraced the occasion being Anzac Day Eve and making sure we paid our respects in a small way, with our theme being around mateship and to make sure we had 22 contributors, everyone shouldering the load and not leaving it to too few.”
Corrigan also went on to speak about the chances for Brown and Weideman making an AFL recall.
“Albeit we love having them at VFL level, they are certainly far too good for VFL football,” he said.
“The hard part is the AFL boys are playing really well, making it a really healthy environment to have two quality key forwards, like those two, putting pressure on our AFL forwards.
“It’s certainly a good predicament to be in.”
Round three sees the Demons head to Marvel Stadium for a Thursday night feature game against North Melbourne.
Casey will feel very confident taking in strong form against a Kangaroos side that is yet to win a game.
Casey Demons 5.4 8.8 11.14 13.18.96
Richmond 2.4 3.5 4.5 5.7.37
Goals: 4 Ben Brown, 3 Sam Weideman, 2 Mitch White, 1 James Munro, Zac Foot, Austin Bradtke, Cory Machaya
Disposals: Jake Bowey 26, Oskar Baker 24, Neville Jetta 23, James Munro 21, Zac Foot 20
