There will be stars right across the ground when Casey Demons and Southport Sharks meet at IKON Park in the 2022 Smithy’s VFL Grand Final.

We’ve taken a look at the seven key players for both sides who could have the biggest say on where the premiership cup is destined.

CASEY DEMONS

Sam Weideman
The key forward who remained loyal to the Demons last year when other clubs came knocking has done a sterling job as the No.1 ruckman throughout the finals, with 22 disposals and 19 hitouts against Sydney and 19 touches, 37 hitouts and a goal against the Lions. He faces another mammoth task with Southport wrecking ball Brayden Crossley standing across the circle. Hasn’t been needed to kick a bag of goals, but the danger he presents will mean the big Shark has to keep an eye on him.

Luke Dunstan
The Demons’ ball magnet this season. It will be interesting to see if he and Jacob Dawson shake hands and go their separate ways or if the Sharks assign someone to keep him quiet. Is averaging 25.5 disposals at 66.7% with 12.2 contested, 4.1 marks, 6.8 clearances, 5.4 inside-50s and 4.4 tackles. Had 38 touches (23 contested), eight marks, 11 clearances, eight inside-50s and two goals against the Swans in the qualifying final. If he does that again, it’s hard to see Casey losing.

Mitch Brown
Played further up the ground against the Brisbane Lions last week as Jacob van Rooyen and Tom McDonald sat deep and racked up 22 touches, nine marks and one goal. But surely in the back of Mark Corrigan’s mind will be his destruction of the Southport defence in Round 7, when he kicked four goals in the first quarter and finished with 6.2 from 17 disposals and 12 marks. That was one of four 5+ bags in his 36 goals for the season and the temptation will be there to unleash him out of the goal square again.

Adam Tomlinson
Casey starts so many attacking raids from deep in its defensive 50, and most of them are sparked by Tomlinson. He can lock down on a man but is most dangerous as an intercept defender, the role he can be expected to take given the Southport forward line is smaller and more mobile. Averages 22.2 disposals at 75.3%, 5.8 marks and 8.3 rebounds. The Sharks need to find a way to make him accountable for a man or he will pick their attacks off all day. Could it be sending Crossley forward and asking a Max Spencer or Aidan Fyfe to keep an eye on Weideman when he does the same?

Kade Chandler
A genuine match winner, Chandler flew under the radar last week and still managed 25 disposals, six marks, eight tackles and a goal. Will mix his time up between the midfield and half-forward and can kick multiple goals in quick succession. His season tallies (18.1 disposals at 70.6% with 8.0 contested, 5.2 marks and 29 goals) suggests exactly that. Fyfe potentially takes him when he is on the ball, with Kwaby Boakye to get the job when he ventures forward.

Jimmy Munro
Who else? The heart and soul of the Casey Demons will be the most experienced VFL player in the game in his 143rd match and 121st for the Demons. Opposition players (midfielders in particular) consider him a pest as he loves getting under their skin, but his teammates say there is nobody they would rather run onto a field with. Take away his impressive 22.1 disposals at 72.4% with 12.6 contested, 6.2 clearances and 8.1 tackles, the desperation to win a flag for him (and skipper Mitch White) will carry these Demons a long way on Sunday.

Jake Melksham
The only player eligible to return to the Casey team from Melbourne's ill-fated finals campaign, Melksham hasn't exactly set the world on fire in the VFL this season but is certainly capable of tearing the Grand Final apart. He has averaged 17.9 disposals at 64.3% with 7.0 contested, 4.4 marks and 4.1 inside-50s and has kicked just 4.6 in his eight matches. If he can reproduce one of his best performances such as his 21 touches and two goals in Round 14 or his 23, eight marks and one in Round 5, he could prove to be the difference.

SOUTHPORT SHARKS

Jacob Dawson
The runaway winner of the rebel VFL Coaches Player of the Year award and equal runner-up in the J.J. Liston Trophy, Dawson has been the starter motor in the Sharks’ engine room all season. The Suns Academy graduate played nine AFL matches for Gold Coast and 51 NEAFL games from 2016-19 and has found a new level in the VFL, playing all 30 matches and averaged 31.4 possessions. This year his numbers are 29.8 disposals at 67.2% efficiency, with 15.9 contested possessions, 9.1 clearances, 4.9 tackles and 4.5 inside-50s. Will the Demons assign him a tagger or will they back their system to limit his effectiveness?

Boyd Woodcock
The equal Liston and rebel VFL Coaches Player of the Year award runner-up is the X-factor to Dawson’s grunt work. The former Port Adelaide player, who played 12 matches for the Power in 2020-21, joined the Sharks after following his sprinter partner Olivia May to the Sunshine State. And he has been a revelation. Flashy boots, high marks and spectacular goals aside, Woodcock has played 19 games, averaging a career-high 27.9 disposals per game at 63.3%, with 11.4 contested possessions, 4.5 marks, 6.8 clearances, 3.2 tackles and 4.9 inside-50s, while also getting forward to boot 22 goals – another career high. Was held to a season-low 15 touches by the Demons in Round 7.

Brayden Crossley
Love the way the big bloke goes about it. The 199cm, 105kg wrecking ball was terrific in the first half of the year but has found another gear in the absence of injured No.1 ruck Fraser Thurlow, stepping into the role with aplomb. He averages 15.6 disposals and 25.4 hitouts per game, but it is his other work that makes him one to watch. 9.3 of his disposals are contested and he averages 4.4 clearances and 5.1 tackles – terrific for a ruckman – while also kicking 13 goals. Those numbers have increased to 19 disposals, 37.5 hitouts and 7.5 tackles in the finals.

Billy Gowers
The former Western Bulldogs forward played 33 AFL matches and kicked 39 goals from 2018 to 20. He missed the qualifying final with a knee injury and was quiet in the preliminary final with just five touches, but importantly two goals. He will be desperate to make his mark on the Grand Final. If he is at full fitness, he will take some stopping. Averages 14.6 touches and has kicked 31.22 for the year. Kicked his 100th VFL goal last week and is capable of turning that into 105. If he does, the Sharks will be right in the contest.

Jacob Townsend
An up-and-down season for the 2017 Liston medallist and Richmond AFL premiership player, who played 62 AFL games for GWS, Richmond, Essendon and Gold Coast. Townsend started like a house on fire, kicking eight goals against Williamstown and leading the Frosty Miller Medal with 16 goals after Round 4 but then missed three of the next four games due to two separate suspensions. He has only kicked eight goals in the past seven matches, four of those against Coburg in Round 22 and none in the finals, where he has touched it just 17 times. But he helped set the tone with his attack on the ball in the qualifying final and is due to rip a game apart. Could that be on Sunday?

Kwaby Boakye
Rated extremely highly at Fankhauser Reserve and has been in the conversation as a NAB AFL Draft hope as a mature-aged rebounding defender. Suns Academy graduate Boakye, 23, uses his pace and elusiveness to springboard the Sharks off half-back but can also play a lockdown role, as he did on Alex Sexton in the preliminary final. Expect him to pick up Kade Chandler or Toby Bedford, as well as giving Seb Tape and Rhys Clark a hand on the big Demon forwards. His 12.6 disposals may seem low, but his efficiency is a strong 71.6% and he rarely wastes the ball.

Tom Fields
His raking left foot is one of the most dangerous in the competition, with the ability to blast the footy accurately up to 70m off half-forward making him a real weapon for the Sharks. Fields booted three goals in the preliminary final, including a signature bomb when he rocked up for a handball from 60m, and with 23 goals for the year, it is a weapon Mark Corrigan will need to keep an eye on. The former Carlton player (2 AFL games in 2015) averages 14.9 touches, four marks and 4.9 inside-50s and has the capability to be a matchwinner.

SUMMARY

Casey Demons have been best team all year by some distance, but how much does that mean when the ball is bounced at IKON Park with the scoreboard reading 0-0? 

The Sharks received a first-hand lesson of just how good the Demons can be back in Round 7 when the score read 38-0 at quarter-time and got out as far as 50-3 early in the second term.

The Demons have stars on every line and it was harder to leave players out of the keys above than find them to put in.

It tells you the Sharks have their work cut out for them, but no team is better equipped for the task.
If Weideman can get the job done against Crossley, the tall Casey forward line is likely to cause a plethora of headaches for Steve Daniel, while a lot rests on Turner, Joel Smith and Corey Ellison at the other end to put the clamps on Southport’s array of elusive goalkickers. 

It all shapes as another VFL Grand Final classic.

Southport Sharks have been nothing short of outstanding in their first season (and a half) in the VFL and they are embracing the opportunity to create history by winning the first premiership they have contested in a new competition for the third time.

A club that is used to success throughout its 61-year history, Southport is not flying into Victoria thinking second place is good enough.

The Sharks do, however, know exactly the challenge that will be staring them in the face in the dominant Casey Demons, who have been beaten just once this year.

Southport has the tools to do it, with Dawson, Woodcock, Foot, Joyce and Lockhart all capable of big numbers through the middle, Crossley one of the best ruckmen in the competition, Tape, Clark, Boakye, Mackenzie Willis, Ryan Davis and Matt Gahan a miserly defence and Fields, Gowers, Townsend, Pescud, Johnson, Dan Charlesworth and Rhys King all capable of kicking goals.

This is going to be a cracker, so get along to IKON Park on Sunday – you won’t be disappointed.

PREDICTION: Casey Demons by 20

2022 SMITHY'S VFL GRAND FINAL
Sunday, September 18
Casey Demons v Southport (IKON Park, 12.50pm)

Broadcast/streaming: Seven Network from 12:30pm (Vic - Channel 7 / Brisbane and Gold Coast – 7mate / National - 7plus). Free live stream on AFL.com.au and the AFL Live Official app

Ticketing: For the 2022 Smithy’s VFL Grand Final, admission prices are adults $20, concession/pensioners $15 and children under 15 free. Tickets can be purchased at the gate or online via: www.intix.com.au/events/vflgrandfinal2022