By Marcus Uhe
Casey Demons VFL coach Taylor Whitford is not viewing the upcoming VFL season as a ‘reset’ year despite the loss of a wealth of experience at the club over the off-season.
In addition to James Munro’s and Luke Dunstan’s retirements, key contributors at state league level in recent years, in James Jordon and James Harmes, were traded to rival AFL clubs, while Jake Melksham will miss the bulk of the year after undergoing a knee reconstruction late last season, and Joel Smith’s playing future remains unclear, provisionally suspended by the AFL after failing a drug test last season.
George Grey, meanwhile, has made the switch to Frankston, and 2023 Best-and-Fairest winner Deakyn Smith has joined North Melbourne’s VFL program, having been delisted by the Demons.
Rather than bemoan who is not there, Whitford is buoyed by the opportunities on offer for the squad’s younger talent who have put their names forward for early selection after strong practice match performances.
“We’ve had a bit of list turnover and it is a bit of that in the VFL, where you’ve got a cycle every one-two years that you get a new crop of young boys through and that’s probably what we’ve had this year,” Whitford said.
“We’ve been pretty lucky with ‘Moose’ (Munro), who was on our list, Luke Dunstan and James Jordon as well, ‘Harmsy’ (Harmes), they’ve been great but it probably hasn’t given the opportunity for some of our VFL boys, so that’s exciting.
“It’s exciting and probably gives other teams a little bit of an unknown because you have known what to expect when you come up against Casey in the last couple of years with those types of players.”
Former Saint, Leo Connolly has signed for the VFL season, as has Campbell Hustwaite, who captained Collingwood’s VFL side the past three seasons, and Beaconsfield product, Mitch Szybkowski.
Cranbourne’s Andrew Green has impressed, as has former Dandenong Stingray Ziggy Toledo-Glasman, expected to be one to fill the void left by the senior players in his second year in the program.
While in Kobe Shipp and Brayden La Planche, the Demons have replenished with local talent eager to impress fresh out of the Coates Talent League.
Last season finished poorly for the Demons, fading as the season went on and thrashed by Footscray in an elimination final, having battled for consistency in performance.
Without setting expectations, Whitford is adamant that he wants his side competing in September.
“We want to play finals footy, we’re not here to make up the numbers,” he said.
“We want to be playing deep into finals and that’s our goal.
“We can’t look too far forward because we don’t know what this week will bring.
“We’ve got Box Hill at home, they showed some really good signs last year of improvement and they’ll be better again this year.”
The Demons’ VFL season kicks off on Sunday at Casey Fields at 2.05pm, with a VFLW contest proceeding them at 11.05am.
LOCAL VFL/VFLW LISTED PLAYERS
Callum Porter – Officer/Box Hill
Seb Amoroso – Drouin/Box Hill
Luke Nelson – Noble Park/Carlton
Bailey Lambert – Noble Park/Carlton
Tyson Sruk – Rowville/Carlton
Charlie Muley – Beaconsfield/Casey
Mitch Sybkowski – Beaconsfield/Casey
Andrew Green – Cranbourne/Casey
Brayden La Planche – Rowville/Casey
Kobe Shipp – Beaconsfield/Casey
Riak Andrew – Berwick/Dandenong Stingrays/Casey
Paddy Cross – Nar Nar Goon/Casey
Liam Serong – Warragul/Coburg
Cooper Macdonald – Rowville/Collingwood
George Grey – Cranbourne/Frankston
Harrison Coe – Beaconsfield/Frankston
Kyle Stainthorpe – Rowville/Frankston
Matt Johnson – Beaconsfield/Frankston
Blake O’Leary – Noble Park/Frankston
Matt Nelson – Noble Park/Frankston
Josh Mounter – Beaconsfield/Frankston
Deakyn Smith – Doveton/North Melbourne
Lachie Wynd – North Melbourne/Rowville
Kade De La Rue – Beaconsfield/North Melbourne
Liam Coghlan – Rowville/Port Melbourne
Joel Garner – Wandin/Richmond
Sam Frangalas – Berwick/Richmond
Tom Bower – Noble Park/Richmond
Luke Ryan – Cora Lynn/Sandringham
Logan Young – Noble Park/Sandringham
Tarkyn O’Leary – Noble Park/Sandringham
Pierce Roseby – Rowville/Sydney
Wardell Lual – Noble Park/Werribee
Corey Ellison – Cranbourne/Williamstown
Jack Toner – Narre Warren/Williamstown
Riley Collier Dawkins – Springvale Districts/Williamstown
VFLW
Matilda Van Berkel – Warragul Industrials/Box Hill
Chloe Bailey – Warragul Industrials/Box Hill
Alisha Molesworth – Warragul Industrials/Box Hill
Shree Fairchild – Warragul Industrials/Casey
India Makai – Warragul Industrials/Casey
Ashleigh Russell – Endeavour Hills/Southern Saints
Ahlee Penry – Warragul/Southern Saints
