Casey and Melbourne forward Brad Miller gets a handball away. Pictures: Nigel ClementsBy Paul Pickering
REIGNING premier North Ballarat gave the upstart Casey Scorpions a lesson in finals footy at Port Melbourne on Sunday.
The Roosters, who are looking to become just the fourth VFA/VFL club to win three consecutive premierships, again proved their aptitude for high-stakes football on their way to a 32-point win in the second qualifying final.
The Scorpions, it seems, have much to learn – and even more to prove – as they approach Saturday’s cut-throat semi-final against the Northern Bullants.
Casey coach Brad Gotch said his charges, who finished the season third behind North Ballarat and Williamstown, lacked the daring to go with the Roosters when they hit top gear midway through the second term.
“They just outmuscled and outworked us – too good,” Gotch conceded.
“But they’re an experienced finals team and a lot of sides have gone down to North Ballarat over the last couple of years.
“As I said to the boys, that’s what the double chance is about. I think they’ll learn a lot from that (game).”
Both sides began tentatively, missing some easy targets in the first term as the ball bounced between the 50-metre arcs.
Gotch said he had been happy with the “arm wrestle” of an opening term in which both teams kicked 1.4.
But it was the Roosters who summoned the will to break the stalemate, kicking seven goals to Casey’s three in a telling second quarter.
Five of those goals came in the latter half of the term, when athletic ball-carriers Isaac Smith, Cam Richardson, Gavin Urquhart and Marcus White emerged to break the game open.
The Scorpions seemed shell-shocked as they went into the half-time break four goals down, and the outlook grew bleaker on resumption.
A botched switch from fullback Matthew Warnock gifted Rooster Brayden Norris a goal in the opening minute of the third.
Moments later, North Melbourne-listed giant David Hale – well held by Warnock throughout – marked on the goal line and punted the footy into the old factory lot adjoining the ground.
It was symbolic. The working-class Roosters had claimed another victim at their finals home away from home.
Their lead ballooned to 48 points late in the quarter, only for the Scorpions to kick six of the last nine goals in a face-saving finish.
But Gotch was under no illusions about the gulf between the sides on Sunday.
He said the Roosters’ disciplined defensive set-up had stifled the Scorpions running game, admitting his chargers had become “gun shy”.
That stilted approach made life difficult for gun forward Brad Miller, who kicked four goals and looked dangerous when isolated against North Ballarat skipper Shaune Moloney.
Miller won plenty of friends during the week when he knocked back a farewell AFL game for Melbourne to lead the Scorpions into battle, and he remains the key to Casey’s finals campaign.
He found an unlikely ally up forward in the second half, with key defender Tom McNamara switching ends in a bid to find a spark. The composed Demon was lively, booting two impressive running goals.
Rhys Healey shadowed reigning J. J. Liston Trophy winner Myles Sewell (15 disposals) for much of the afternoon, before keeping a dominant Stephen Clifton (33) to one touch in the last quarter.
Warnock (26) and creative half-back Kyle Cheney (24) were among few Scorpions to back themselves on the big stage, while VFL-listed midfielders Matt Fieldsend and Danny Nicholls worked themselves into the ground.
Casey will lose Warnock and Jamie Bennell for Saturday’s clash with the Bullants, with neither playing enough VFL games to qualify beyond the AFL season.
The in-form Warnock, in particular, is a huge loss, but may be offset by the likely return of Demons forwards Michael Newton and Austin Wonaemirri.
The Ants, who trounced Collingwood by 51 points on Saturday, have ridden the form of Carlton regulars Andrew Walker, Bret Thornton and Richard Hadley into week two of the finals.
Casey has won both meetings between the teams this season.
Saturday’s game begins at 2.10pm at Port Melbourne’s TEAC Oval.
