ONE WORD came to mind when the fixture handed battling North Melbourne a Thursday night clash with the fully-loaded train that is the Casey Demons at the moment.
Ouch.
And that’s exactly the way it turned out as one of the VFL’s flag favourites romped to a 107-point thrashing of the hapless Kangaroos at Marvel Stadium in a result that was never in doubt from the moment Sam Weideman kicked the first of his four goals at the 10-minute mark of the opening term, right through to Kade Chandler’s second after the final siren.
Leigh Adams has taken on one of the hardest jobs in VFL football for the second time and he is starting from ground zero after the Roos completely turned over their VFL list – only 36-gamer Louis Cunningham remains from the 2019 squad.
They fielded just eight AFL-listed players (plus three debutants and four more playing their third game or less) against the Demons – and it showed, with their percentage crashing to just 29.89.
But this win was all about Casey as it boosted its own percentage to a whopping 269 and franked its big victory over reigning premier Richmond last week.
Weideman should have finished with better than his 4.3 from 10 marks, Tom Sparrow was outstanding with 31 disposals, while James Harmes also put his hand up for the powerful Melbourne team with 27 touches and two goals and draftee Jake Bowey had another strong game.
Former Sydney Swan Zac Foot kicked three majors and 100-gamer Jimmy Munro was his usual menacing self with 23 disposals and 10 tackles, as Casey held North Melbourne goalless in the first half and completed the rout with eight goals in the final quarter to register its highest score and biggest winning margin against the Roos.
The Kangaroos were best served by former Brisbane Lion and Werribee player Josh Clayton (30), the experienced Dom Tyson (27), Tyler Roos (26) and father-son talent Bailey Scott (19 and a goal).
THURSDAY, APRIL 29
North Melbourne 3.6 (24) def by Casey Demons 19.17 (131)
