Get set for

By Marc McGowan
BE ready to go.
Casey Scorpions coach Peter German put his fringe players on notice this week ahead of what looks to be the club’s third straight finals campaign.
There are still seven weeks left in the VFL’s home-and-away season, but the Scorpions have firmly entrenched themselves in the top four with consecutive heavy defeats of the competition’s cellar-dwellers.
Casey’s depth has been tested in those games, with several rarely used players in action due to injuries and AFL call-ups.
Jimmy Taylor, Ryan Creed and Glenn Chivers all proved their worth on Saturday, while strongly built forward Ben Waite kicked three goals in the Scorpions’ 111-point win over Bendigo in round 12.
German said this depth would be crucial down the stretch.
“The most difficult aspect early on was sometimes only playing five or six Casey guys a game,” he said.
“Some of the players started to question, ‘gee, am I going to get a game?’ and all of a sudden the door has opened for Creed, Chivers and Taylor, those sorts of blokes, so I think that’s only going to be more so, now.
“We’ve lost (Melbourne players Liam) Jurrah and (Daniel) Bell and (Lynden) Dunn, who’ve played with us the last seven or eight games, but we’ve been able to bring the Casey guys in and they’ve stood up and done a job.”
German has been impressed with the promoted players’ ability to rise to the occasion at senior level and said this needed to continue.
“We’re certainly going to need those types of guys who’ve been on the periphery for a while,” he said.
“It’s going to be important for all those guys that if they get their chance that they’re ready to go right away and don’t wait a couple of weeks to build into senior footy.”