By JARROD POTTER
FOCUSING on the future was the aim of the weekend for Casey Cavaliers’ men’s team instead of expending energy to take the championship.
Casey has always performed strongly at the Big V pre-season tournament, finishing second before in the last major warm-up before the season.
This year was the exception as the Cavaliers put their best efforts into developing the strategy and getting game time into new players instead of the scoreboard – rotating the roster and getting the bench on for a much-needed early run through.
The Cavaliers only won a single game for the tournament – beating Mornington Breakers 41-37 on Saturday evening.
The result wasn’t the main factor for Casey coach Stewart Baird – who was keen to see what his new look roster is capable of achieving.
The win on Saturday night wasn’t perfectly executed – with a third quarter lapse, forcing Baird to drag the starters -but the Cavaliers found out a lot about how they best operate heading towards its first clash this Saturday night against Wodonga.
“We went away from our defensive stuff (against Mornington) as offensively people weren’t getting the looks they wanted,” Baird said.
“But it’s a typical sign of a team that’s new and trying to gel together.
“I told them we’ve got a week ’til the real deal, and we don’t want to come home from a road trip 0-2, so I’m happy but not elated.”
Recruits include import Matt Pebole, former Frankston SEABL forward Matt Witherden and guard Chris Murray add to the critical experience necessary for the roster, plus the third Casey Cavaliers’ Szalek – Brad – will join his brother Ash in the men’s team while his sister Jess plays for the women.
“We deliberately went out to go a bit older – couple of guys said they wanted to go back to Youth League and that’s really good maturity ironically,” Baird said.
“We went a bit older – got a couple of 30-plus guys – I thought Chris Murray showed what he’s capable of, Matt Witherden is still finding his place in the group and the other issue we’ve got is we’re big and we’re still trying to work out how that works for us, but that’s what this weekend’s all about.”
CASEY CAVALIERS SENIOR MEN’S ROSTER – BIG V TOURNAMENT:
Jono Hawes, Mike Batley, Matt Pebole, Brad Szalek, Dean Johnson, Steve Michalski, Mitch Taylor, Bevan Camilleri, Ash Szalek, Matt Witherden and Chris Murray.
