Tall Saints forward Fergus Watts was a thorn in Tasmania’s side, with seven majors from 10 shots on goal in the Scorpions’ 61-point success at Bellerive Oval on Saturday.By Marc McGowan
THE Casey Scorpions may not be declaring it publicly, but they’re headed for their first finals series since 2003 after yet another commanding Victorian Football League performance on the weekend.
The Scorpions ventured interstate to Bellerive Oval on Saturday and thumped bottom-placed Tasmania by 61 points for their sixth win in seven encounters.
The margin should have been even greater, with Casey’s wasteful kicking at goal continuing and, despite conjuring up 34 scoring shots, the Scorpions managed just 16 majors.
The victory has put them into top-four calculations and those chances will be either enhanced or quashed this weekend, as the VFL enters the final two home-and-away rounds.
After a dominant showing against Port Melbourne the previous round, Casey ruthlessly set about destroying another lower-ranked rival.
But a lopsided clearance count – 16 to four in favour of the Scorpions – was not reflected on the scoreboard and they were forced to enter the second quarter behind once again.
It proved to be the last time Tasmania was in the clash.
Casey, with the benefit of a strong breeze, piled on the pressure and finally made something of its ascendancy, most notably through St Kilda big man Fergus Watts (17 touches, seven marks and seven goals from 10 shots).
Watts’ effort was perfectly complemented by brilliant veteran Brett Voss (29 possessions and 13 marks), who proved again that he is a class above VFL standard.
The quality of the taller Saints was matched in the centre by Andrew Thompson (30 disposals and 10 clearances) and, together with four-time Scorpion best-and-fairest Steven Harrison (27 and eight), he continually pumped Casey forward.
The Devils did not add to the five goals straight they had at quarter-time, but the Scorpions jagged six kicks for maximum value to break out to a 28-point advantage.
Tasmania rallied as it took its turn with the wind, but it was only through more accurate kicking that the deficit was cut – and even then it still stood at 25 courtesy of Casey’s 15 extra scoring shots.
It was smooth sailing from then on, with the Scorpions, backed by a barely believable 73-36 inside-50 count by game’s end, terrorising the Devils’ defence.
Eight goals in total for the second half were enough for Casey to blow Tasmania out of the water, but an equal number of misses spared the Devils from further embarrassment.
Other Scorpions to feature strongly were St Kilda’s first-round draft pick David Armitage (27), Kangaroo discard Troy Makepeace (23), ruckman Barry Brooks and courageous midfielder Kyle Mathews.
Casey coach Peter Banfield bemoaned his team’s kicking and highlighted its new standing by downplaying the triumph.
“It was a reasonable type of win, but we probably didn’t play all too well,” he said.
“It was good to go down there and win, but we missed a few shots. One of these days we’ll kick straight and (that opposition had better) watch out.”
Banfield would not be drawn on whether the Scorpions were certainties for September action, but revealed that he felt they were a tier below the top few clubs.
“Geelong and Sandringham are the benchmarks of the competition,” he said.
“We’ve improved a lot in a number of areas, but it’s still hard to draw a line through where we’re at, but I suppose we’ll find out soon.”
Big names Justin Sweeney and David Biagi played in the reserves again on Sunday and played pivotal roles in the thrilling draw with North Ballarat at Casey Fields – with Biagi’s six-pointer on the siren securing two points for Casey – to put themselves in position for a recall to the top side.
The Scorpions’ seniors face the ninth-placed Bendigo Bombers at Casey Fields on Sunday at 2pm and not only will be looking to cement a finals’ berth, but will also look to put a serious dent in the Bombers’ aspirations.
