By JARROD POTTER
VFL – ROUND 5 REVIEW
THE Casey juggernaut steamrolled another victim this week as the visiting Northern Blues were put through the wringer.
Northern Blues posed no threat to Casey – despite the Scorpions running a tall side on a wet, windy day at Casey Fields.
Such were the woes of the visitors that their first goal was kicked at the 30-minute mark … of the third term.
The visitors also lost two players to serious head/neck injuries – one incident involving Kieran McGuinness will attract interest from the match review, while a second stretcher was called for the skipper Thomas Wilson after an unfortunate head-knock in a contest.
These things and more left the Scorpions in an enviable position and able to keep the afterburners on to really roast the Blues.
Casey’s 23rd man – and Cora Lynn alumnus – Jaxon Briggs (four goals) relished the wet weather too, and his in-and-under performance wasn’t overlooked by the coaches either.
Briggs’s partner-in-forward-crime Sam Weiderman (four goals) continued his stellar start to VFL life as he’s racked up 13 goals in the first month and will be one to watch out for at the AFL level.
While the side could’ve cantered to the line the telling factor of the second half – more so than the constant stream of Casey goals – was how spent and how tired each Scorpion looked as he ran through the interchange gate.
There was nothing left in the tank by the final siren as Casey didn’t just pull its punches and wait for a comfortable 10-goal win.
Instead the feeling among the group was to finish it off. With its opponents on 18 points, Casey well over 100 and only 10 minutes to go, the Scorpions’ bench still pumped each other up and made their intent clear.
“We won’t let them score another point,” one player said as he waited on the boundary.
It was a procession that lasted beyond the siren as Jake Spencer sealed the horrible day for Northern.
The Melbourne ruckman booted a goal after the horn, earned from a free kick in the dying seconds, to make it a 107-point thumping.
Ben Newton (38 possessions) and Alex Neal-Bullen (30) ran circles around their midfield opponents, as did Lynden Dunn (26) after racking up touches through the first term. High-flying Tim Smith ‘cost himself a car’ according to footy scribe Paul Amy after dropping a grab while in the stratosphere, but was stellar throughout the day nonetheless.
“I think we set the game up with our contest and we were able to hit the scoreboard pretty early and to be honest I wasn’t really expecting that,” Plapp said.
“Probably a bit overwhelmed by what the result was. I know that we’re in pretty good order and have been playing some pretty good footy but to come out in those conditions and play the type of footy I know we’re capable of – that’s as good as we’re going I reckon.”
“Didn’t have any passengers and the attitude around the guys coming back from AFL level, that’s always a challenge for us, but they were sensational.”
Taking the top of the VFL ladder by percentage over Williamstown and Box Hill – the Scorpions now head out to Sandringham on Saturday afternoon for a high-ranking battle between the two likely finals-bound sides.
VFL SCOREBOARD
CASEY SCORPIONS 5.3 9.6 12.9 19.11 (125)
NORTHERN BLUES 0.1 0.3 1.6 2.6 (18)
CASEY Goals: S. Weideman 4, J. Briggs 4, J. Grimes 2, B. Newton 2, C. Dawes 2, D. Terlich, J. Spencer, M. King, J. Trengove, E. Morris. Best: B. Newton, A. Neal-Bullen, J. Grimes, T. Smith, L. Dunn, J. Briggs.
NORTHERN Goals: T. Totevski, H. Kerbatieh. Best: N. Graham, M. Dick, M. Korcheck, D. Buckley, J. Tutt, B. Boekhorst.
