HIS surname his Liddle. You fancy he'll be in the Casey Scorpions'best-player list a lot. 

Casey supporters  left  Saturday's practice match  against Frankston knowing  the club had  recruited an exciting  player  in Pierce  Liddle, from the NT.  

Like most indigenous players, he has  class bursting out of his boots.

By Paul Amy Leadernews

That much was evident  in the final quarter, when  the  19-year-old spun out  of trouble near the boundary line, steadied himself and  threaded a goal.  A few  minutes later he evaded a tackle  in the manner of a boxer getting out of the way of a  hopeful haymaker. 

Under  dazzling autumn sunshine that put a sheen on  a magnificentsurface,  the Scorpions   finished hard  but  lost by three points. Liddle's goal and follow-ups from Nick  Scanlon and  Shane Valenti  put them  close. They  had trailed  at every change, most significantly at  quarter-timeafter  failing  to kick a goal and  conceding  four. 

Scorpions captain   Kyle Matthews, sore from last week,  acted as runnerand Evan Panozza,  Jimmy Taylor, De La Salle recruit  Matt  Moore and ex-St Kilda rookie Glenn Chivers did not play. Casey used  11  Melbourne players,  including    Liam Jurrah,  fromAlice Springs. Tall and lean, he kicked three goals, applied  defensive pressure  and will be a fine player at VFL level. ``He's got  plenty of talent,'' Casey coach Peter German noted after the game. ``It's a  matter of him adjusting to the  Melbourne lifestyle.

James Wall was also among the best.   The Scorpions  used him as a key defender  last season but, with PeterFaulks arriving  from the  Sydney Swans,   he is likely to  go into themidfield  this year. ``At the moment I'm trying to give him  a look at  a few  positions,''German said. ```Wally'  can be a real wildcard for us.   It would be good to keep theopposition guessing each week about where he'll line up. When you think about it he's got the  attributes to play in every position  on the ground.'' 

German  said he was using the practice matches  to gain knowledge about his players.  ``It's my first year and  I'm looking to see  which  guys can handle the  more pressured environment and play VFL footy,'' he said. ``Training well is OK,  but once  you start playing  games it's a whole different ball game. ``I'm keen to see how the kids go, whether Rian McGough can  stand up, whether he can play as a rebounding defender,  whether Michael Stockdale can play down back, whether Nick Scanlon can make that transition from local footy. ``A lot of the boys are going up a notch.  Dave Collins said to me afterthe game how much quicker it  was   than anything  he'd ever played. ``If they can get a taste of it, they can take it into their training.'' Aside from  getting clued up about the VFL list, German must bring together the  Casey and Melbourne players in the first year of the alignment. The process  will continue with a practice match this Sunday at Casey Fields, against the Coburg Tigers.  

At Casey's  jumper presentation on Saturday night, Kyle Matthews was announced as captain and James Wall and Alex Silvagni as  vice-captains.