TO finish off the Victorian Football League (VFL) Women’s season, AFL Draft Central will be reviewing each team’s year. The Casey Demons were one of the new teams in the competition and while the ladder position wasn’t too flash, they did show some promising signs.

Position: 10th
Win-loss: 5-9
Percentage: 70%

Results:

Round 1: Bye
Round 2: Lost against Hawthorn by seven points
Round 3: Lost against Southern Saints by eight points
Round 4: Lost against Darebin by 64 points
Round 5: Defeated Williamstown by 12 points
Round 6: Bye
Round 7: Lost against Western Bulldogs by three points
Round 8: Defeated Essendon by 26 points
Round 9: Defeated Southern Saints by 11 points
Round 10: Defeated Richmond by 18 points
Round 11: Lost against Geelong Cats by 41 points
Round 12: Lost against NT Thunder by 12 points
Round 13: Defeated Carlton by 10 points
Round 14: Lost against Melbourne University by 53 points
Round 15: Lost against Geelong by 37 points
Round 16: Lost against Collingwood by 32 points

Key players:

#5 Stacey Poke

A hard nut at the contest and a key contributor to the side, Stacey Poke was impressive throughout the season. She was able to make an impact in each of her eight games and showed promising signs. In Round 2, she led the way with 17 disposals and eight tackles.

#7 Bianca Jakobsson

An accomplished Melbourne defender, Jakobsson was able to shift into the midfield this season for Casey and have an impact. One of her best games was against Richmond where she racked up 20 disposals, nine marks and seven tackles. She hit the contest hard and was a proven ball magnet during the season.

#13 Katherine Smith

Smith was a workhorse in the midfield for the Dees, working hard to get the ball in congestion. She was able to feed the ball out of stoppages and was able to swiftly move the ball through the ground. One of her best games was in Casey’s narrow three-point loss against the Bulldogs, where she gathered 26 disposals, laid six tackles and kicked a goal.

#16 Casey Sherriff

A real classy player who could play anywhere, but was suited in defence. She was composed with ball in hand, and skilful by hand or foot. She would often be used in transition to move the ball out of the back half and hit a target down field, or push up to the wing and get the ball going forward. Earned a call-up to Melbourne’s list, replacing Daisy Pearce.

#18 Kaila Bentvelzen

A key position forward whose leads and aerial work proved damaging. Bentvelzen was able to read the play well and positioned herself well against experienced opponents. She kicked 11 goals in 14 games and had a good all-round game in Round 2. In this match, Bentvelzen kicked one major, racked up 10 disposals and took five marks.

#25 Madelaine Shevlin

Shevlin proved to be a ball magnet in the Casey line-up, always going in hard to win the football. She ran well on the inside and outside and is clever with the ball in hand. Shevlin was consistent, playing 14 out of a possible 16 games and impressing in the majority of them. One of her best performances was against Melbourne University, where she kicked a goal, recorded 22 disposals and laid three tackles.

Season summary:

The Demons showed signs of improvement at the start of the season with two narrow losses to follow their bye. After a 64-point loss proving to be a backward step for the Demons, they made up for it by getting their first win straight after the hefty loss. After a loss and a bye, Casey’s season picked up again with three straight wins, looking promising to push for a high ladder position. But the Demons could only get one more victory in their last six games, ending the season with a tough run of games. They had players such as Taylor Mesiti and Tarryn Orgill standing up in certain games but less games from experienced AFLW players such as Shelley Scott and Catherine Phillips hurt their chances of pushing for a finals finish.