By Bryce Jarvis
Fans, football tragics and the media packed themselves into every little nook and cranny that ABD Group Stadium had to offer on Saturday, all in order to catch a glimpse of two of the most exciting recruits that the Richmond Tigers have had in a while. And while it was meant to be the Cousins and Cotchin show, Melbourne's No.1 AFL draft pick Jack Watts stole the show with a sparkling senior debut for Casey, that showed how promising the young Brighton Grammar student is set to be.
Working out of the forward line with Micheal Newton, who kicked five brilliant goals, the 18-year-old Watts showed true class all day. Watts snapped brilliantly from the goal square early in the first, and followed up with another two goals from his 16 disposals, to help sink the Tigers by 42 points and shut out the hype surrounding the Cousins, Cotchin combo.
It was a low scoring tight affair in the first quarter, both sides overused what uncontested possession that they had, with Coburg going in seven point leaders at the end of the quarter. The second term was far more free flowing through the middle of the ground, with Casey's Micheal Newton slamming home three beautiful goals. Coburg had multiple goal scorers however the Tigers still over-used the leather and subsequently went into the half-time break two points down.
Casey kicked away in the third quarter, showing true dominance throughout the centre corridor. The Scorpions kicked four unanswered goals, as the Burgers were left frustrated at the game slipping through their fingers. That frustration finally boiled over at the end of the third term, with a small incident soon becoming an all-in melee. While no punches appeared to be thrown, it was an ugly incident for VFL football, and not one the league would like a repeat of.
The last quarter saw Coburg desperately try to play catch-up football, with Cotchin and Simmonds putting in mammoth efforts in the last. The Burgers kicked the first two goals and looked to be back in the game, however Casey steadied and slotted home six more goals to shut out Coburg and win convincingly.
Coburg Tigers 2.2 7.4 7.6 11.7 (73)
| Casey Scorpions 1.1 7.6 11.11 17.13 (115)
GOALS:Coburg Tigers: Hislop 2 Pettifer 2 Liddle 2 Schulz King Allan Connors Horne
Casey Scorpions: Newton 5 Moore 3 Watts 3 Hughes 3 Wall McNamara Valenti
BEST:Coburg Tigers: Edwards Cousins Simmonds Morgan King Caruso
Casey Scorpions: Newton Mohr McKenzie Faulks Watts Silvagni
Last Modified on 03/05/2009 17:35