A last-quarter midfield lift has propelled Casey to a crucial 17.10(112) to 12.11(83) victory over Essendon at ETU Stadium, Port Melbourne on Saturday night.
Going into a bye, the victory has Casey sitting six points clear inside the top 10.
With the match on the line at three quarter time, Casey turned the tide around the contest, led by Will Verrall in the ruck and Bailey Laurie, Kynan Brown and Mitch Hardie at his feet.
With the experienced Tom Campbell a late out, there was much responsibility on Verrall to shoulder the ruck load.
While his opposite number Lachie Monteath was ultra-impressive across the first three quarters, Verrall too was influential before outlasting his direct opponent in the last quarter.
He finished with 44 hitouts and eight clearances, both game-highs, to accompany his 21 disposals.
Despite Casey leading for most of the match, Essendon controlled the midfield battle for large parts of the third quarter, enabling them to access the corridor and punish Casey’s turnovers.
Brown’s dirty work helped stem the tide, while Laurie had 26 disposals and eight tackles, and Hardie fought hard late and kicked two last quarter goals, helping the Dees pull away.
A seven goal to two last quarter was reward for the lift in intensity.
While the midfield battle seesawed, Matt Jefferson was the linchpin of the forward line across the four quarters, mounting his case for AFL selection with five contested marks and two goals.
Another impressive contributor in the last quarter was Melbourne father-son prospect Kalani White.
The 2025 draft-eligible player is the son of former Dee Jeff, so is tied to Melbourne, and is part of Gold Coast’s Academy so will have the choice of who to nominate ahead of the draft.
Based on Saturday, Melbourne fans will hope he follows his old man: after a quiet first three quarters, he sprung to life late, kicking two last quarter goals, nine disposals, 11 hitouts and two clearances.
Riley Bonner’s strong season as a distributor continued, finishing with 33 disposals, while Paddy Cross kicked a career-high four goals, including two in the last quarter.
Meanwhile, Casey’s VFLW side fought hard but was upstaged, going down 3.5(23) to 6.4(40).
Within eight points at three quarter time, courtesy of Sophie Casey, Meg Macdonald and Tylah Burn, the Dees gave up the only goal of the last quarter which consigned them to another loss.
The women take on second-placed Box Hill this Saturday at 12.05pm, Casey Fields.
