“Hopefully I’ve got all my bad luck out of the way,” Casey Scorpions youngster Beau Vernon said as he reflected on his wretched run with injuries in the past few years. The 20-year-old made a reputation as a fine rover when he played in the Gippsland Power’s 2005 TAC Cup premiership as a bottom-age player.

By Paul Amy- Inside Footy

The following year he hurt his left knee in a practice match and played no football. In 2007 he was at Gippsland as a 19-year-old but missed half the season due to OP. There was more misfortune last year, his first at Casey, when he went down with an injury to his right knee.

The good news for the Scorpions is that he’s finally fit and ready to string some games together. He made a good start with some eye-catching touches against Port Melbourne in Round 2. “I just want to get out and have a kick and have some fun,” he said.

Beau is the son of Daryl Vernon, the former Richmond and Sydney little man who was best afield in Springvale’s 1987 grand final victory. Beau is studying commerce and works part-time at a Bayswater factory making chalk and crayons. “The boys get a laugh when I tell them what I do,” he said. Forget the crayons: pencil in Beau as a player to watch.