FORGET the ladder positions. The odds were piled against the Casey Scorpions.They'd been forced  to make 11 changes _  yes, 11 _   from last week's team  that defeated  Collingwood, and had brought in three first-gamers. They were as green as a billiard table.

Coburg Tigers, meanwhile, had players of the calibre of Joel Bowden, Mark Coughlan, Shane Tuck, Kain Pettifer  and Andrew Raines.  With 14 Richmond players in, they looked classes above  Casey.

By Paul Amy- Leader News

The Scorpions' win at Casey Fields on Saturday therefore must be logged  as their finest  since their  arrival at Cranbourne. Indeed, stalwarts   were saying it was as good a home-and-away victory as any in the club's  VFA/VFL history

For coach  Peter German, it was  another triumph in his first year in the VFL.The former North Melbourne centreman  has done a  superb job in  extracting the most   from a  young, unheralded squad cannily put together by football manager Craig Lees. 

Casey people are adamant German's old mob the Roos would do well to give him an interview about their vacant senior position.All six players named  in the best on Saturday were   from the Casey list,  and the first  four _  Ben MacReadie, Michael Stockdale, Peter  Faulks and David Collins  _   are all in their first  year at the club.

After reading out the team on Thursday night, German  set out the challenge   in front of the players, and he did it  so passionately that  Lees   remarked the following day that  he would love to be pulling on a jumper.

As it was, his brother Wayde   did, selected to make  his senior debut. James Blaser  also  got a first game and Gippsland Power lad  Chris Wylie was used as the 23rd player. The upheaval at the selection table left  Casey with only five Melbourne players _three of them rookies _   and so depleted that it had to call on six top-up players  to flesh out a reserves team.

Casey set up its victory by winning the first quarter, despite kicking into a four to five goal wind.The Scorpions made a terrific start when James Wall,  playing  loose in defence, slipped forward to supply an on-the-chest pass to burly Ben Waite. He kicked  the first of his four  goals.From that point the Scorps  chipped the ball around the boundary, with skill and a composure, soaking up  time.

Coburg  played quite horribly, banging the ball  forward with no regard for the conditions, and invariably was turned away by  Casey defenders  Wall, Evan Panozza, Stockdale and James Taylor.

Coburg  got the first goal of the second term, but Casey  nailed  the next four, a goalsquare shark   from Danny Hughes, a  left-foot snap from Ryan Creed, an arrow-straight 35m effort on the run from MacReadie and a long shot   in the lee of the half-time siren from Simon Buckley.

The Scorpions had doubled  Coburg's score  and  showed  triple  the effort.Six goals to four in the second half gave them their  sixth win in seven outings and  another decisive step towards the double chance.

Coburg coach Craig McRae  cut as glum  figure after the match.He's told his players to leave their reputations at home, for they would count for nothing.The Tigers had the experience.

But Casey had reserves of endeavour and energy.  ``It's got to be up there,'' German said when asked where this effort  sat in his coaching career.``Just because we made so many changes and were so inexperienced.

I just said them, `Boys, the only way you can win  is  if you play as a team'.``I couldn't have asked for anything more from them.''  

$1000 Leader player of the year: 3 Ben MacReadie, 2  Michael Stockdale, 1  Peter Faulks.

Progressive: 9 Bell, 8 Valenti, 7 Wall, 6 Silvagni, 5 Faulks, Matthews, 4 MacReadie,  Johnson, 3 Stockdale, McKenzie, Bartram Jurrah, Miller, Jamar, Newton, 2 Cheney, Dunn, Mohr, Liddle, Spencer, 1 Robertson, Maric, Panozza, McNamara,  Taylor.

Casey Scorpions   3.2,  7.6,  9.7,  13.9 (87) d Coburg Tigers   2.5,  3.6,  7.11,  7.12 (54)

GOALS: Casey Scorpions: Waite 4 Hughes 2 Zomer  Liddle  MacReadie  Creed  Stockdale  Buckley  Faulks.

Coburg Tigers: Liddle 3 Pettifer  Thomson  Raines  Hughes

BEST: Casey Scorpions: MacReadie Stockdale Faulks Collins Waite Wall.

Coburg Tigers: Rance Tuck Coughlan Polak Liddle Horne