Casey Scorpions

With Casey Fields out of action with Melbourne AFL side training there. Reports suggesting Casey Demons will use Shepley Oval as their base for training and home games. Thoughts?

From the Cranbourne Leader

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Herald Sun reporter James Mottershead tweeted this photo of Casey Fields on Saturday.

Former Melbourne champion Garry Lyon has delivered a verbal shirt-front to the Casey Fields VFL ground, calling it a “cow paddock’’.

Critics have blamed the poor ground surface on two player injuries in last Saturday’s Round 16 VFL match between the Casey Demons and Geelong.

Heavy rain during the week left parts of it waterlogged, most notably the centre half forward areas.

Cats Zach Guthrie (ankle) and Nathan Kreuger (left knee) were injured in the first half.

“Did the conditions have something to do with it? I think we have got to definitely look into that,’’ Geelong coach Shane O’Bree said after the match.

“Yeah we will (raise concerns with the VFL), it got ticked off but I don’t think they ticked it off properly.”

The Cats have since raised the matter with AFL Victoria.

Leader has been told another club also had concerns about the surface earlier in the season.

Casey officials confirmed new drainage will be installed at the ground at the end of the season. Surface improvement works will also be carried out.

On radio station SEN this morning Lyon was blunt about the state of Casey Fields.

“Is Casey Stadium contributing to the skill demise of Melbourne?’’ Lyon asked on SEN this morning.

“(It was) in a horrible state on the weekend … cow paddock … there’s a picture of it going around … the actual surface was deplorable.

“The wind out there is cyclonic most of the time. How can you contribute your best young talent from a skill point of view if you’re continually playing footy in a wind tunnel?’’

The Demons’ next VFL game is against Frankston in Round 20 on Sunday, August 18, but a VFL W match against Darebin is scheduled for Sunday, August 4.

Both are under “wait and watch’’ status.

Melbourne and Brisbane played a practice match at Casey Fields in March.

Casey Demons general manager Peter Maynard said today: “We’ve got an issue with the drainage which goes back to the original drainage system.

“The council (City of Casey) have done a magnificent job of managing the ground but unfortunately when you get a lot of rain in such a short time, like we did last Tuesday and Wednesday, the drainage doesn’t cope and the water sits in the top layer of soil.’’

Asked if he was comfortable with a VFL match being played at Casey Fields last Saturday, Maynard said: “In hindsight it would have been better to have a better surface but because it happened late, and there was reasonable sun and wind in the two days leading up to the game, we were hopeful it would have dried up.

“We did alert Geelong to the situation on the Friday that the ground wasn’t 100 per cent. Both clubs inspected it on Saturday morning and the decision was made to go ahead.’’

Maynard said the club was in talks with Casey Council about extending the planned works at the end of the season.

He said it was a “stretch’’ to suggest the condition of the ground had anything to do with Melbourne’s skill level.

‘Garry is a Melbourne man but I’m not sure Garry has been out to Casey Fields in recent times,’’ Maynard said.

“So for him to term it deplorable and talk about cyclonic winds … is questionable.’’

Demons revamp coaching structure mid-season in radical move

By Peter Ryan

June 18, 2019 — 7.36pm

Melbourne have taken the bold and unusual step of revamping their coaching structure midseason following a shocking start to 2019 under senior coach Simon Goodwin.

VFL coach Jade Rawlings will step aside from the Casey Demons to take charge of Melbourne's attack in a return to line coaching while Brendan McCartney will immediately move back to a development role after being the club's defensive coach in the first half of the season.

Flashback: Jade Rawlings in 2009.

Photo: Sebastian Costanzo

Max Rooke, who has been the club's forward coach, is also moving back to a development role with three former Cats in Matthew Egan, McCartney and Rooke now responsible for development.

Rawlings informed the players at Casey Demons during training on Tuesday afternoon that Sam Radford would take over the reins as coach of the VFL team after the AFL coaches and the players were informed of the shift in recent days.

Melbourne football manager Josh Mahoney said the club was constantly looking at ways to improve and after tinkering with the program during the first 12 rounds they have settled on a structure going forward that they think will help the Demons rebound.

"The attitude of all the staff and the coaches is that we just want to get better and we want to play whatever role we can to do that. That has given us the confidence to [make the change] at this time of the year," Mahoney said.

"We could have let the year play out and made the changes at the end of the year but our attitude is don't waste a minute. If there is an opportunity, let's get it done."

The Demons will keep Troy Chaplin as backline coach, Craig Jennings (who is doing the level 4 coaching course) as strategy and education co-ordinator, Ben Mathews as stoppage coach and Justin Plapp as midfield coach for the remainder of 2019 under Goodwin, who is in his third season as senior coach after succeeding Paul Roos in 2017.

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McCartney, who joined the club to work in development in 2014 soon after finishing up as Western Bulldogs coach, has a reputation as a hard task master who is revered among players at Geelong who benefited from his teaching on their way to winning three premierships in five years while Rooke has been at the Demons since 2016.

Rawlings, who coached Casey into the VFL grand final last year and was named VFL coach of the year, is seen as a rising star in coaching ranks having earned a level four accreditation in recent years. He will return to the coaches box on matchday.

The unexpected shift comes after the Demons lost to Collingwood on Queen's Birthday to slump to 16th on the ladder with just three wins in their first 12 games with club president Glen Bartlett saying last week he expected a response in the second half of the year from a team that was expected to make finals after making the 2018 preliminary final.

With David Misson's departure as elite performance manager at the end of the season to join family in Canada prompting a restructure of the conditioning department the Demons believed there was no point sitting on their hands in relation to coaching.

That review, which was completed recently, will see the Demons recruit a high performance manager to replace Misson with the potential position overseeing the medical and fitness departments.

Dr Zeeshan Arain will become head of medical services and rehab coach Phil Merriman will become head of fitness in a remodelled structure.

From the Cranbourne Leader

Reported by Paul Amy. 

MARK Weideman played for Coburg. On Saturday his son Sam played against the Burgers — and played stylishly and superbly.

As his father watched on, rugged up at a cold and wet Casey Fields ground, the third-year Melbourne forward booted 7.0 for the Casey Demons, leading the home team to a emphatic win, 16.12 (108) to 4.7 (31).

Dees senior coach Simon Goodwin was at the match and his eye was presumably taken by Weideman’s sure marking and certain kicking.

It was his best return at the VFL.

“Yeah, dad’s told me a lot of stories about Coburg back in the day,’’ Weideman, who turns 21 on Tuesday, said after the match.

Casey defender Harrison Petty comes in with a big spoil over Coburg forward Peter McEvoy.

Coburg was a power of the old VFA in Weideman senior’s time at the club.

Thirty years on it’s battling through a difficult period as a stand-alone entity, light on for experience as it goes up against teams brimming with AFL players.

Saturday’s match was a meeting of second against bottom and the result went as expected. Casey’s class told, even in conditions made difficult by drizzle that stuck around all afternoon.

Billy Stretch and Jay Kennedy-Harris were as influential as Weideman as the Demons claimed their sixth consecutive victory.

“I thought our players were really professional. They adjusted to the conditions,’’ Demons coach Jade Rawlings said.

“Coburg were really good in the contest but we showed a capacity to use the ball well … we were able to keep it locked in our front half for long periods of the game. Really pleased with how we played over four quarters.’’

Asked where Weideman was at, Rawlings said: “He’s at Casey at the moment. He’s a good player. He was going OK in the AFL but he got a slight calf (injury) four or five weeks ago which took him a couple of weeks to rehabilitate. He’s a player of the future … that performance is going to ask a lot of questions of the match committee.’’

Weideman said he thought he was “developing in the right direction’’.

“I’ve had a few inconsistencies which I want to get out of my game but I feel like I’m building pretty strongly now,’’ he said.

“Today I just found myself in pretty good positions. I’ve been doing a lot of work on my contest stuff with (Melbourne assistants) Matt Egan and Max Rooke at AFL level. I’m doing it in training and it’s starting to come out in games. I’m happy with how I’m progressing but I’ve still got a lot of work to do.’’

Casey skipper Jack Hutchins celebrates one of his three goals.

Weideman had a surprise partner up front in Casey captain Jack Hutchins, who has made his name as one of the VFL’s best backmen.

With Melbourne keen for Cam Pedersen to play in defence, Hutchins made the switch of ends and was handy with three goals.

Pedersen, one of those players who struggles for permanence in the AFL but is a class above the VFL, presented a large obstacle to the Lions forwards, as did Sam Frost.

The Demons brought in Cory Stockdale for his senior debut and he popped up with a goal in the last quarter.

The brother of ex-Casey back pocket Michael Stockdale, the 21-year-old played in the

Cory Stockdale is chuffed after nailing a goal in the last quarter.)

Development League in 2016 and missed last season due to a shoulder problem.

“He’s been one of the great results of our program this year,’’ Rawlings said. “He’s taken on board everything we’ve asked. He’s a genuine hard worker. Really puts time into his game. He’d been playing well at Traralgon, his local club, and we felt it was time to give him a chance. He certainly took it.’’

The Lions could salvage a few positives from the match.

Mitchell Podhajski was sent to Stretch in the second half and restricted him to six possessions.

First-year player Marcus Lentini went into the match second on the list for most disposals in the VFL and added another 28 to his name. Burgers coach Leigh Adams believes he should be on an AFL list.

Ryan Exon, Ben Allan and Josh Guthrie battled hard too.

Adams said his team met class opposition in Casey and was “continually outworked all over the ground’’.

“That’s where we were shown up today, they outnumbered us at contest after contest,’’ he said.

“We’ll use this week as a really good week to look at the game and see where we can improve our players. Obviously they’re a young bunch and seeing some of the workrates of those AFL players will be a good thing for them.’’

Coburg coach Leigh Adams.

Coburg is winless after 11 matches and Adams said the task of coaching a stand-alone team was as difficult as he imagined when he crossed from South Croydon at the end of last season.

He said there had been “a bit of a culture where they’ve been happy to get close and that’s been good enough’’. “A few games we probably should have won, they’ve been happy we got close to winning. The good thing is the blokes want to improve. It looks horrible, 0-11, but you can’t knock the endeavour of the blokes. I’m excited to go home and review the game and see what some of the young blokes did.’’

Casey Demons 4.2, 9.4, 13.6, 16.12 (108)

Coburg 1.3, 2.3, 3.5, 4.7 (31)

Casey Demons goals: S. Weideman 7, J. Hutchins 3, B. Stretch 2, C. Stockdale, J. Garlett, J. Kennedy-Harris, O. Baker

Best: S. Frost, S. Weideman, B. Stretch, J. Kennedy-Harris, T. Bugg, J. Hutchins

Coburg goals: J. Weightman, J. Belo, M. Conn, S. Binion

Best: M. Podhajski, J. Guthrie, R. Exon, B. Allan, S. Gregory, M. Lentini