Casey's 2013 VFL Fixture

The VFL today released the Victorian Football League fixture for season 2013. There will be 19 rounds, with each side having one bye. Casey has nine home games in 2013, with their bye falling in Round 10. Casey will also play a Friday night game in 2013, with the majority of their games falling on a Saturday.

Casey's full fixture can be seen below.

 

Round	Opponent	Date	Venue	Time
1	Frankston	Sunday 7th     April	Casey Fields	2:00 P.M.
2	North Ballarat	Saturday 13th April	Eureka Stadium	2:00 P.M.
3	Essendon	Saturday 20th April	Windy Hill	1:00 P.M.
4	Williamstown	Saturday 27th April	Casey Fields	6:00 P.M.
5	Port Melbourne	Saturday 4th May	North Port Oval	2:00 P.M.
6	Box Hill Hawks	Saturday 18th May	Casey Fields	2:00 P.M.
7	Geelong	Friday 24th May	Simonds Stadium	6:00 P.M.
8	Sandringham	Saturday 1st June	Trevor Barker Beach Oval	2:00 P.M.
9	Collingwood	Saturday 8th June	Casey Fields	2:00 P.M.
10	BYE
11	Coburg	Sunday 23rd June	Casey Fields	2:00 P.M.
12	Northern Blues	Sunday 30th June	Casey Fields	2:00 P.M.
13	Werribee Tigers	Sunday 14th July	Avalon Airport Oval	2:00 P.M.
14	Essendon	Sunday 21st July	Casey Fields	2:00 P.M.
15	Collingwood	Saturday 27th July	Victoria Park	NOON
16	Geelong	Sunday 4th August	Casey Fields	2:00 P.M.
17	Frankston	Sunday 11th August	Frankston Oval	2:00 P.M.
18	Bendigo Gold	Saturday 17th August	Casey Fields	2:00 P.M.
19	Box Hill Hawks	Saturday 24th August	Box Hill City Oval	2:00 P.M.

Melbourne v Hawthorn - Round 7 Preview

After a testing week, Melbourne returns to the hallowed turf that is the MCG, to take on Hawthorn.
Melbourne have lost their past eight matches against Hawthorn (stretching back to 2006), and were never really in the match last time they played. The Demons will be looking to continue and improve on their improving form, which was again evident last week. Melbourne had their highest possession count for a game this season against the Cats, and even beat Geelong in the contested possession count. Melbourne are going to have to do this again if they are to stand any chance this week.
Fans have been crying out for Ricky Petterd to return, and after some good games for Casey, he returns to the side. Combine Ricky Petterd with Mitch Clark and Jeremy Howe, and Melbourne's forward line seems quite attractive. He also adds forward pressure to the forward line - something Melbourne has been lacking. Don't be surprised if he fires.
On the back of kicking four goals for Casey and being named among the best, Jack Fitzpatrick will play his first game of the season. He'll probably act as a tall forward and tag in and out of the ruck with Mark Jamar.
Versatile forward Jamie Bennell also returns after a couple of good games for Casey.
James Sellar is out with a calf injury, whilst Luke Tapscott and Lynden Dunn have been omitted.
Lynden Dunn, Joel Macdonald and Luke Tapscott have been named as emergencies.
Players to look out for:
James Frawley - He was OK last week but he'll need to to very good this week if Melbourne want to keep Buddy Franklin quiet.
Nathan Jones - Again, he was amongst the best for Melbourne last week. Jones leads by example every week, and seems to be getting better and better. As always he is key if Melbourne are any chance of beating Hawthorn.
Prediction:
It's been a tough road for Melbourne so far this season and it doesn't get any easier this week. The Dees are huge outsiders and, unless a miracle happens, Melbourne won't win. Again, like last week, Melbourne fans should expect a much improved performance and passages of the gameplan Mark Neeld is implementing. If they can shutdown Buddy and Rioli they'll go a long way to doing that. On top of everything else, they can't ever give in. Keep fighting, and Melbourne fans will probably be satisfied.
Realistically, it'll be Hawthorn by 25-35 points. Still, I'll end with two words: Go Dees.

Geelong v Melbourne - Round 6 Preview

A dejected Melbourne side after their 186 point loss to Geelong. Source: theage.com.au

Melbourne heads down the road to Geelong off the back of a much improved performance in Round 5, and, despite not winning, many Demons fans were pleased with the efforts of the team - especially considering the four games before it. Glimpses of hope were seen, and a bit of stricture looked to be forming.


This week, Melbourne faces an opponent that absolutely embarrassed them the last time they met (which was one of those "Where were you when?" moments for fans). Quite obviously, Melbourne will be aiming for a much better performance. It's the second of seven extremely testing weeks for the 0-5 Melbourne Football Club. Last years game hasn't been spoken about, according to a few Melbourne players. Whether that's a good thing or not, I'll leave that up to you to decide.

Jack Watts and Joel Macdonald have been dropped for the game, whilst Mitch Clark and James Frawley come back into the side. Many people have questioned the omission of Watts - who failed to lay a single tackle last week - as they feel he still has a long way to go in terms of development, and AFL is the best place for him. He'll play for Casey this weekend (in the backline in fact) and the last time he did, he had a blinder of a game. It's time for him to prove his worth.  As for Joel Macdonald, well, he can consider himself a tad unlucky. James Frawley is arguably our best player, so there's no way you would keep him out of the side if he was fit. Macdonald just had to make way for him.


Top three players to look out for:

Mitch Clark - What a find so far. In the absence of Liam Jurrah, Clark has been Melbourne's go-to forward and has had quite a big impact in the four games he has played. He was dearly missed last week, so it's fantastic to have him back.

Mark Jamar - After a slow start, Jamar had the most hitouts ever in a game for Melbourne last week. Could this be the start of his All Australian form returning? We can only wait and see. Melbourne really need it...

Nathan Jones - Arguably Melbourne's best player so far this season. He puts his heart on the line week in, week out and he is really starting to reap the rewards. Expect him to get better and better from here.


Prediction: In an interview posted this week on melbournefc.com.au, Jordie McKenzie said that the Dees see this as a winnable game. As much as I wish for it, I just can't see it happening. What we should expect, though, is an improvement on last week. The boys need to show fight, and never give in. I'll take a 20-30 point margin (hopefully in our favour, of course).



Jamie Watt.