Coach could see storm coming

By Peter Sweeney
THE Scorpions had won nine games pre the weekend, Coburg, their opponents, just four.
To most, the result seemed a formality. Not so to Casey coach Brad Gotch. He was concerned.
Firstly, it was at home against Coburg that Casey had put in their worst performance this year.
However, what worried Gotch more was the 100th game of Coburg captain Nick Carnell.
“I knew they would be up and about for him, I knew they would play for him,” Gotch said of Carnell.
“There was a banner for him, there was to be an after game function and there were past players at the ground.
“It was not a normal game feel for a side well down the ladder.”
And then there were the changes to the Casey side – eight in fact – from the winning team of six days earlier.
“That (changes) knocked us around. It’s hard to get consistency when there are so many changes,” Gotch said.
“The loss of Sylvia, Nicholson, Morton from the midfield really hurt us. It put us under the pump and tested our depth.
“McNamara and Jetta were the main ones in the middle and we worked back to them when we were in strife. In the end, they ran out of some legs.”
Both sides finished with 27 scoring shots, but Coburg were smoother – and straighter.
The hosts were one straight kick in front at the main break, but it was the third quarter that hurt the visitors.
Coburg got three early ones in the quarter and then Casey came back.
There was only a point in it with five minutes remaining in the quarter, before Coburg kicked another trio.
Casey got one back on the siren and there was only two goals in it as the teams turned for home.
Casey rallied – they never throw it in – but they ran out of steam and a last term of 3.5 didn’t help the cause. Coburg kicked 4.2 in the final stanza.
“We couldn’t convert when we should have, when we had too,” Gotch said. “The most trouble we have is against sides like Coburg, who are smaller and quicker. We have trouble with the running sides. The likes of Hicks (five goals) and Carnell (four) gave us a hard time. They kicked half of their goals. It was a day where we would find out how our reserves went when they were called to step up. We probably had too many in at the one time. In attack, they were too quick for us and it was disappointing.”
However, as Gotch said, it is now time to “regroup” for the clash against Werribee at Casey Fields on Saturday.
“They are up and about and in form,” Gotch said. “We’ve only had one bad game there this year (against Coburg) and play with more confidence at home. This week I will show the boys some edits of the Coburg game. I want them to understand where they went wrong. We’ve been inconsistent, but the good thing is that there is light at the end of the tunnel. We’ve only got two games left, and they are both at home.”