Scorpions on song

By Ben Hope
CASEY Scorpions coach Brad Gotch said it was great to see so many locals supporting the team so early in this season as they played Frankton at Casey Fields on Saturday
“All we can do now is keep putting on good games of football and hope the support continues throughout the season,” Gotch said.
Playing before the Melbourne Demons NAB challenge game against West Coast, Casey dominated the field from the first bounce to end with a 61-point victory over the Dolphins.
Gotch said he was happy with his team’s performance in what was a great day of football.
At half-time Casey was only 12 points ahead, with Frankston eager to close the gap after the Scorpions goal rate slowed.
“We started really well and took the lead with five goals to one early on,” Gotch said. “But I think we got a bit too comfortable in the second quarter, we lost a bit of our hardness and work rate. We gave up two goals by being a bit sloppy and not tight enough.”
After the half-time talk, the re-invigorated Scorpions side blew the game open with five goals in the first few minutes of the third quarter.
“We talked about it at half time and the players came out a lot more intent,” Gotch said.
Leading goal-kicker in the 2009 TAC cup, Luke McDonald showed his form with four goals for the Scorpions.
“Wall, Matthews and MacCreadie also did really well and Newton scored three goals,” Gotch said. “I was happy with the effort across the team.”
Gotch said he would work with the team to square up their kicks, especially with angled goal attempts.
“On a few of our angle attempts we dropped the ball a bit wide, we need to clean them up,” he said. “Newton also had a couple of long shots at goal that he probably should have passed off.”
One disappointment for the Scorpions came with a hamstring injury for Austin Wonaeamirri. “It looks like he will be out for a few weeks, it was a bit of a blow for the team,” Gotch said. “We were hoping to get a good run from Wonaeamirri so it’s back to the drawing board for now.”
At three-quarter time it was all but over for the Dolphins and Casey finished the day with 16-10-106 against a disappointed Frankston 6-9-45.
Gotch’s unique coaching style seems to be paying off for the team with a 61-point victory hard to ignore.
“Most of the players are used to being told what to do. Instead, I like to show them and get the senior players to drive it a bit more on the field,” Gotch said.
“That’s my coaching style. Everyone is different in their coaching philosophy in footy. There is a time to be hard and a time to be more all-encompassing.”
Casey are now well-placed in their final pre-season clash against the Northern Bullants this Friday, before they meet Geelong in the first round of the premiership on 10 April.