By Tyler Lewis
Casey Demons have started the 2022 VFL season in some style, dismantling the Sandringham Zebras.
In warm conditions on Sunday at Casey Fields, the Demons compiled a 17 goal to six blitz after quarter-time, to run out 21.13 (139) to 8.9 (57) victors.
The Demons 82-point thumping of the Zebras is the first time the two sides have played since 2019.
The Casey outfit led at every change, but put the foot down after having a 13 point buffer after the first stanza.
Casey kicked seven goals to three in the second term, five to one in the third and five to two in the final period of play to complete the early season percentage booster.
The goal-kicking was a big point of difference between the two sides, with not only the Dees having nine individual goal-kickers, with four of those multiple, but with the way in which Casey had its 34 shots on goal.
Quite rarely did the Demons have immense pressure, which force rushed shots, whereas the Zebras weren’t as luxurious to such opportunities.
The Demons dominated in every aspect of the game, but particularly in disposals.
Casey accumulated a whopping 362 disposals (236 kicks, 126 handballs), 57 more than the Zebras.
Melbourne-listed utility Mitch Brown raised his hand for AFL selection, with seven majors from his 10 shots on goal.
Brown took 14 marks in a day out that will undoubtedly secure him the three JJ Liston Medal votes.
Corey Ellison was solid in his new role down back, while the ever-reliable Jimmy Munro led the ground for disposals with 30, to go with his characteristic seven tackles.
Captain Mitch White also had an impressive day out, with 21 disposals and two goals.
Casey has another home game in round two this week, as it hosts Essendon at Casey Fields on Saturday from 3:05pm.
The Demons also have a major pre-game function set to take place, with reigning Jock McHale Medallist Simon Goodwin set to be a guest speaker.
The Frankston Dolphins, meanwhile, have suffered a disappointing loss on its home deck at the hands of Werribee.
The Dolphins led by two goals 10 minutes into the third term, before conceding a cluster of goals on the bounce to give the Tigers a four-goal buffer into the final break…a buffer that ultimately cost the home side the game.
Frankston lost Pierce Roseby early on and former Fremantle Docker Taylin Duman during the third term, causing the Dolphins to be two down on the bench.
Coincided with the wasteful kicking in front of goal, it was an array of factors that contributed to the Dolphins 7.15 (57) to 12.11 (83) defeat.
Frankston coach Danny Ryan was most disappointed by his sides ‘lack of fight’ in the third term, when the Bee’s pushed their assertion on the game.
“We had no push back when they had their chance,” Ryan said.
“The game is about momentum and they had their chances in the middle of the third and we weren’t able to hold them at bay.
“(Being) two rotations down doesn’t help, it’s not an excuse, it’s just reality.
“We lose Roseby early and Taylin Duman gets knocked out behind play, that hurt our ability to rotate, but I think it’s more than that.
“There was a lack of fight and grit when we needed it, so that will be something we need to address.”
It was Werribee that was wasteful in front of the sticks in the first term, heading into the first interval with 2.6 on the board, but from that point on it was the Dolphins, wasting easy chances, but also struggling to capitalise on entries inside 50.
“We kicked 7.15, lot of points, poor entries,” Ryan said.
“A little bit of a lack of discipline… Bailey Lambert misses a soda and Angus Grant, then we give away a couple of silly free kicks and that’s a four goal swing.
“Four goals is 24 and we lose by 26, there is a lot of ways to look at it, the second quarter was characteristic of us and the third definitely wasn’t.
“The last quarter was a bonafied arm wrestle, you look at the league for contested possession and tackle, we are probably the number-one contested team so it was a brutal game.
“We were the only two stand-alone teams that played each other, the others played AFL (aligned) sides, it was a real slug fest.
“Our lack of fight and lack of smarts with the ball in hand was poor, that’s what hurt us, they beat us on turn over.”
Though the Dolphins went down in round one, there was a lot to like for Ryan.
The third season Frankston coach isn’t taking a lot out of the defeat, as the Dolphins know exactly where they lost the game and are expecting the personnel within the side to gel a lot better come the pointy end of the year.
“There were still things to like,” he said.
“As I said, it was a big contested tackle game and we weren’t disgraced in that area, our rucks were impressive, they stood up, (Austin) Bradke and (Liam) Reidy clearly won the ruck battle.
“First possession and clearance we were dominant, but we just weren’t able to translate that.
“The optimistic side of it is we know what we did wrong, we know what we need to fix, we just have to get to work now.
“I really rate Werribee, I think they’re going to be there when the whips are cracking so in some senses, missing a few personnel and a lot of players playing together for the first time, there is a lot of upside in that way.”
The Dolphins are under lights again this Saturday, hosting the Greater Western Sydney Giants.
The game will kick off 7:05pm, with the Dandenong Stingrays and Eastern Ranges NAB League season opener curtain-raising the round two VFL clash.
