THE CASEY Scorpions' six-goal defeat  of Geelong perfectly mirrored the impact made by dumped Demon spearhead Russell Robertson at Casey Fields  on Sunday.  

They were dominant, classy and strong, but grossly inaccurate.   Robertson booted 0.5 in the first half. He finished with 3.6, but all his goals came in final-quarter junk time. 

Courtesy Of Berwick Leader.

 While Robertson had the yips, his work-rate was unquestionable. The 219-game AFL veteran plucked 12 marks, five of them  contested.  

It should be enough to earn a Queen's Birthday recall to a struggling Melbourne  side low on talent up forward. Casey  coach Peter German was rapt with the full-forward's attitude. ``Robbo did everything we asked,'' he said. ``If you look at his intent and how we wanted him to play he ticked all those boxes.  

We couldn't have been any more pleased.''The 16.15 (111) to 11.9 (75) win was one Casey simply had to have. The Scorpions  entered the clash feeling  they'd let  their previous two matches slip. Casey sabotaged its chances in both those losses with a wasteful forward line. But a host of AFL-listed players stood up when it counted in Sunday's Round 8 win. 

Shane Valenti, Kyle Cheney and Lynden Dunn will all push for a senior recall, while number  one draft pick Jack Watts impressed with his hard running up the ground.``(Watts') composure and his ability to see things and work through traffic is very good for a big man,'' German said.``He's every chance to (make his AFL debut) in the next month or so.'' Cheney and Dunn collected a whopping 60 disposals between them, dominating the engine room despite the Scorpions losing ruckman Jake Spencer early to a groin injury.

Utility man James Wall was instrumental in Spencer's absence, collecting 24 touches and taking seven marks as the Scorpions pumped the ball inside-50 22 more times than the Cats.

 Michael Newton and Liam Jurrah impressed across half-forward, booting three goals apiece,  with Newton taking nine marks.German said up to eight players would be in the mix for AFL selection on the back of the performance.The Cats, despite losing every quarter, hung in  and narrowed the gap to 18 points in the last term. But in the absence of Ryan Gamble and Tom Lonergan Geelong was too reliant on skipper James Podsiadly to kick goals.

 The star booted four on Alex Silvagni, but German praised the young defender for his effort. Cat Ben Johnson couldn't repeat his match-winning eight-goal performance against Sandringham, held to just one goal.

``I'm really pleased with our work-rate. We knew it was a pretty important game for us, we feel that we're probably a bit better than what we are on the ladder,'' German said.   ``We've got to probably win a minimum three of the next five games.'' 

The Scorpions went  to ninth on the ladder and they should be able to improve further by defeating  Werribee on Saturday.Casey will wear pink jumpers as part of a fundraiser for breast cancer research.

 $1000 Leader  Casey Scorpions player of the year (votes by  football  manager Craig Lees): 3 Shane Valenti, 2 Kyle Cheney, 1  James Wall. 

 Progressive: 7  Wall,  Valenti, 3 Jamar, Bell, Newton, Matthews, 2 Cheney, Dunn, Mohr, Silvagni, Liddle, Spencer, 1 Robertson, Maric, Panozza, McNamara.

Casey Scorpions   3.6  7.9  11.12  16.15 (111) d Geelong   1.1  4.4  7.7  11.9 (75)

Goals: Casey: Robertson 3 Jurrah 3 Hughes 3 Newton 3 Petterd 2 Valenti  Dunn. Geelong: Podsiadly 4 Johnson 2 Hunt  Allwright  Westwood  McKenna  West.

Best: Casey Scorpions: Valenti Wall Cheney Dunn Watts Faulks. Geelong: Hogan Hunt Laidler Podsiadly West Allwright

VFL Reserves -

Casey Scorpions   19.16 (130) d Northern Bullants    12.9 (81)

Casey Scorpions goals: Zomer 5 Waite 3 McGough 3 MacReadie 2 Clay 2 Scanlon  Strauss  Collins  Taylor.

Best: Taylor Blaser MacReadie Williams Strauss McGough