Former Casey captain and four-time best-and-fairest Steven Harrison was one of the few Scorpions to hold his head high with a 30-possession effort.By Marc McGowan
THE Casey Scorpions continue to look up at the competition after a 73-point hiding at the hands of the surging Werribee Tigers at Werribee on Saturday.
Only Tasmania, on the bottom, sits behind the Scorpions on the ladder and Casey now boasts just a win and a draw from its seven matches.
A raft of injuries to its AFL-affiliate St Kilda has destroyed any chance of the Scorpions fielding a competitive side as they have regularly come up against talent-laden VFL squads.
The Tigers were coming off two consecutive 100-point victories and most pundits expected much the same from their Peet Cup battle with Casey.
Werribee had the services of Andrew McDougall, Farren Ray, the super-impressive Andrejs Everitt, Will Minson, Cameron Faulkner and Tom Williams – all of whom were first or second-round draft picks in their particular year.
It was a daunting proposition for the Scorpions, especially after the Saints decided to scratch their three emergencies from the contest – despite Raphael Clarke being the only late inclusion.
While the class gap was always going to be a factor, it was Casey’s lack of height in defence against the likes of McDougall, Tiger captain James Podsiadly and Jordan Barham that proved the most difficult hurdle to overcome.
This was all too apparent from the start with the 197-centimetre McDougall booting three goals in a quick spurt in the opening quarter after Jarryn Geary had put the Scorpions on the board first.
Casey managed to stop the bleeding from then on, most notably through the contributions of former captain Steven Harrison (30 touches and 11 marks), but another McDougall six-pointer right on the siren gave Werribee a 21-point lead at the first break.
When Everitt and Nick Batchelor nailed a goal each at the beginning of the second stanza, the lead had suddenly blown out to 34.
It took two supreme efforts from Justin Sweeney for the Scorpions to provide any scoreboard pressure, but the growing influence of Tiger ruckman Minson was evidenced through his big mark and goal to stem the flow.
The term continued in this fashion as Casey toiled hard to stay afloat, but Werribee had all the answers as it stormed to a 30-point buffer at half-time.
The third period proved to be much of the same, as the Tigers continued to hold a stranglehold over the encounter through the performances of Minson (19 disposals, 12 marks and three goals), their barrage of tall forward options and the run of Everitt and Teghan Henderson.
A six-goal-to-three quarter ensued, including McDougall’s fifth major, that took the margin out to an insurmountable 48 points.
It became a procession in the fourth stanza as Werribee turned on the afterburners, with one play providing a perfect snapshot of the day’s play.
Wayde Skipper produced a perfect tap from the centre square to Faulkner, who burst forward with a bounce before putting the ball onto the chest of the leading McDougall.
The former West Coast Eagles prospect subsequently snagged his sixth and final goal.
Scorpions coach Peter Banfield, who was celebrating his 100th game in charge, lamented the huge mismatch.
“We had to play (young defenders) Alex Silvagni and Daniel Frost out of their weight division and apart from those two we haven’t got much left,” he said.
“They’re trying and doing what they can do, but Daniel Frost has played about five games and Alex is around 20 now, so it’s still very, very hard for those young kids against seasoned players.”
With the injury plight reaching crisis point, Banfield has lowered his expectations for the rest of 2007.
“There are 11 games to go and hopefully at some point we get some momentum going. It’d be great to get a bit more experience into the side to help the younger players,” he said.
“I just want to make sure we don’t win the wooden spoon. I just want my guys to play their best footy, their best games, and stay positive and really try to improve as players.”
Casey returns to Casey Fields on Sunday at 2pm to face Port Melbourne that currently occupies fifth spot.
