Victoria Country player Ben McEvoy stretches out for the ball during a recent AFL under-18 championship match at Casey Fields.
CASEY Fields is again kicking goals.
The Cranbourne venue continues to be talked about as one of the better sporting venues in Melbourne, and that was again confirmed after two AFL under-18 Championship matches were played there last week.
The competition was staged under the watchful eye of top AFL recruiters looking for players to be picked in this year’s National Draft.
City of Casey mayor Colin Butler said Casey Fields was fast becoming an attractive venue for elite sporting events, having hosted an AFL pre-season match between Hawthorn and Essendon in March this year.
“Casey Fields has attracted great interest from the sporting fraternity during its continued development, and the Casey Scorpions plus a number of other local sporting teams are already based at the facility,” Cr Butler said.
“Council has already spent $15 million of the eventual $30 million for the development of Casey Fields, and once fully developed in a few years’ time, the facility will have an even greater potential of attracting events such as the under 18 Australian Championships.”
AFL national talent manager Kevin Sheehan was also full of praise for the venue.
“It is a fantastic facility with great amenities and a magnificent playing surface,” he said.
“Hosting these championships provides an opportunity to expose Casey Fields to representatives of all 16 of the AFL clubs as well as visiting players, officials and supporters from the eight states and territories.
“Casey Fields is a benchmark example of the type of AFL facility that falls in just behind grounds like the MCG or Telstra Dome.
“The AFL is hopeful that visiting interstate football officials will look at the Casey Fields facility and try to duplicate it in their home states.”
More than 2000 spectators packed into Casey Fields to watch the championships, with Vic Metro defeating Vic Country and Western Australia easily accounting for South Australia.
Western Australia was the overall winner of the series.
