This Sunday presents football enthusiasts with a top four clash between ladder leaders the Casey Scorpions and the third placed Geelong Cats. The Round 20 contest provides Geelong with the enticing opportunity to snatch first place if things fall in their favour across the competition.
These two sides met in Round 7 at Simonds Stadium, which saw the Scorpions take control of the contest from siren to siren. Coach Brett Lovett felt that the 46 point win demonstrated what his side was capable of when playing their best footy.
“It was probably one of our better games for the year. We had Liam Jurrah play that game and he was very exciting.
“We just really clicked on that day and got all facets of our game together; we moved the ball really well and defended really well too,” Lovett said.
Geelong Development Coach Max Rooke believes this weekend’s match will bring about a very different display of football.
“They smashed us last time so it’s a great challenge for us. Our young group have improved in a lot of ways since Round 7 so we are expecting that we will be a lot more competitive this time,” Rooke said.
This Round 20 contest will showcase two completely altered sides in comparison to their earlier battle. The Geelong Cats will see nine changes from the Round 7 match and will be without stars such as Stephenson, Sheringham and Simpkin.
The Casey Scorpions experience an even greater change from their previous encounter.
“We have had a look at our list and have only got four or five from that day that were playing in our side last week so it is going to be a completely different team.
“We will get Danny Nicolls back this week, he is one of our VFL listed players who has been out with a hammy.
“We will definitely have a few Melbourne players coming back because they had two guys carry over for their Sunday game last week, whereas we will be playing after them this weekend,” Lovett said.
There will be some similarities to the Round 7 contest, with the inclusions of Melbourne listed player Liam Jurrah and up and coming AFL prospect Jack Viney for the Casey Scorpions.
The Casey Scorpions are not wary of their shock loss to the Northern Blues last weekend as they have a proven track record of bouncing back after each defeat this season. Following their two previous losses, the Scorpions have backed up the next week to beat Port Melbourne and the North Ballarat Roosters.
As a result of Port Melbourne encountering a bye last weekend, the Scorpions were able to maintain ladder leadership despite their loss. Casey now face the chance that two teams could rise above them if they are not successful.
“Our first priority was to get a top four position, so we have nailed that. We have been told that if we finish top two then we get a home final, so there are definitely some strong reasons to win.
“Whether it is first or second, I don’t think it really matters. It just a matter of working on last weekend’s game, fixing a few things that we weren’t too good at and getting back to playing the footy that got us up into the top of the ladder,” Lovett said.
The Geelong Cats are going for their eighth straight win and have given themselves the luxury of aiming to only secure a double chance place, no matter the ranking.
“We are striving to finish in the top four. Apart from that there is little reward for us as far as ladder placement goes as we can’t host a home final anyway,” Rooke said.
Casey Scorpions vs Geelong Cats
Sunday 12th August – 2pm
Casey Fields, Cranbourne East
Follow @VFLNews on twitter for live updates throughout the match
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Last Modified on 10/08/2012 22:11