Mark Corrigan, coach of the Casey Demons and Mitch White of the Casey Demons celebrate after the 2022 VFL Grand Final between the Casey Demons and the Southport Sharks at Ikon Park on September 18, 2022. Picture: Felicity Elliott/AFL Photos

CASEY Demons’ surge to their seventh VFA/VFL premiership brought with it a couple of significant club milestones which can only now be appreciated with the job having been done.

The Demons recorded their 100th victory at Casey Fields in the preliminary final thrashing of the Brisbane Lions last week and went a step further in the 32-point Smithy’s VFL Grand Final defeat of Southport, which was their 450th triumph in the State league.

Backing up the reputation of the Casey Cauldron, the Demons’ 100 wins in Cranbourne West have come in just 146 matches (100-45-1), meaning they have a 68.8% win record on their home deck, an impressive record considering there have also been years when they have finished with four or five wins for the season.

The 450 VFA/VFL wins, stretching back to the promotion of Springvale into the competition, have come from 778 matches, meaning the Vales/Scorpions/Demons still have an extremely successful 58% win rate, which increases to 70% in Grand Finals after the seventh flag came from its 10th premiership decider.

The 2022 Smithy's VFL season saw a stunning 1018 players run out for the 21 clubs at an average of almost 48.5 per team, with GWS using the most with a crazy 69, while Southport was the most settled with just 34 playing for the Sharks this year.

Of those 1018, there were 311 debutants (30.5% of the competition), headed by Geelong with 28, Essendon 24, the Giants 23 and Box Hill Hawks 20, while 271 players booted their first NEAFL/VFL goal, led by Essendon's 24, with Footscray and the Cats on 18 apiece.

Twitter: @BRhodesVFL

2:10:00

VFL Match Replay, GF: Casey v Southport

The Demons and Sharks clash in the Grand Final of the 2022 Smithy's VFL Season

SMITHY’S VFL GRAND FINAL PLAYER MILESTONES

  • Nil

SMITHY’S VFL GRAND FINAL CLUB MILESTONES

  • Casey Demons recorded their 450th VFA/VFL win (450-325-3)
  • Casey Demons v Southport happened in a Grand Final for the first time
  • Casey Demons won their seventh VFA/VFL premiership in their 10th Grand Final
  • Casey Demons squared its VFL neutral ground record (39-39)
  • Southport lost its first VFL match at a neutral venue (2-1)
  • Southport fell behind in its NEAFL/VFL Grand Final win-loss record (1-2)

SMITHY’S VFL GRAND FINAL RECORDS

(Figures in brackets are the previous record)

  • 10.10 70 Casey Demons' lowest score v Southport (13.11 89, Casey Fields, 2022)
  • 32 Casey Demons' biggest win v Southport (30, Casey Fields, 2022)
  • 5.8 38 Southport's lowest score v Casey Demons (8.11 59, Casey Fields, 2022)

SMITHY’S VFL GRAND FINAL DEBUTS

(GF total: 0. Season total: 311. NEAFL games counted)

CLUB TOTALS: Geelong 28, Essendon 24, GWS 23, Box Hill Hawks 20, North Melbourne 19, Casey Demons 18, Collingwood 18, Gold Coast 17, Sandringham 17, Richmond 16, Sydney 16, Footscray 15, Frankston 13, Williamstown 13, Northern Bullants 12, Carlton 9, Coburg 8, Port Melbourne 8, Werribee 8, Brisbane Lions 7, Southport 2

SMITHY’S VFL GRAND FINAL FIRST GOALS

(GF total: 0. Season total: 271. NEAFL goals counted)

CLUB TOTALS: Essendon 24, Footscray 18, Geelong 18, GWS 17, North Melbourne 16, Box Hill Hawks 15, Carlton 15, Casey Demons 15, Collingwood 15, Richmond 13, Sandringham 13, Gold Coast 12, Sydney 12, Werribee 12, Frankston 11, Williamstown 11, Northern Bullants 9, Brisbane Lions 8, Port Melbourne 8, Coburg 5, Southport 4

Southport's Billy Gowers booted his 100th VFL goal in the Sharks' preliminary final win over Gold Coast. Picture: Darrian Traynor/AFL Photos

SMITHY’S VFL PRELIMINARY FINAL PLAYER MILESTONES

  • 50 VFL matches: Oskar Baker (Casey Demons)/21 goals (plus 15/17 NEAFL).
  • 50 NEAFL/VFL matches: Ryan Lester (Brisbane Lions)/27 goals (31 N/19 V)
  • 100 VFL goals: Billy Gowers (Southport/Footscray)/81 matches

SMITHY’S VFL PRELIMINARY FINAL CLUB MILESTONES

  • Casey Demons recorded their 100th VFA/VFL win at Casey Fields (100-45-1)
  • Casey Demons v Brisbane Lions happened at Casey Fields for the first time (1-0)
  • Casey Demons defeated Brisbane Lions for the first time (1-1)
  • Casey Demons squared their win-loss record in minor finals (26-26)
  • Southport took the lead in its VFL win-loss record v Gold Coast (2-1)
  • Southport took the lead in its win-loss record in minor finals (6-5)

SMITHY’S VFL PRELIMINARY FINAL RECORDS

(Figures in brackets are the previous record)

  • 15.99 99 Casey Demons' highest score v Brisbane Lions (8.9 57, Moreton Bay, 2022)
  • 7.6 48 Brisbane Lions' lowest score v Casey Demons (10.11 71, Moreton Bay, 2022)

SMITHY’S VFL PRELIMINARY FINAL DEBUTS

(PF total: 0. Season total: 311. NEAFL games counted)

SMITHY’S VFL PRELIMINARY FINAL FIRST GOALS

(PF total: 0. Season total: 271. NEAFL goals counted)

FROSTY MILLER MEDAL
LEADING GOALKICKER

58 Chris Burgess (GC) * – winner
53 Fergus Greene (Box) *
41 Ben Cavarra (Box) *
38 Ben Crocker (Car) *
37 Joel Amartey (Syd) *
37 Mitch Brown (Cas) 2
37 Jacob Townsend (Sou) 2
33 Shannon Neale (Gee) *
33 Alex Sexton (GC) *
33 Jacob van Rooyen (Cas) 0
32 Sam Day (GC) *
32 Hudson Garoni (Wer) *
31 Josh Schache (Foo) *
30 Ben Ronke (Syd) *
29 Ned Cahill (Car) *
29 Billy Gowers (Sou) 0
29 Joel Ottavi (Wil) *
28 Kade Chandler (Cas) 0
28 Max Pescud (Sou) 1
27 Tom Fullarton (BL) *
27 Shaun Mannagh (Wer) *
26 Hayden McLean (Syd) *
25 Sam Fowler (Col) *
25 Matt Signorello (PM) *
24 Kaine Baldwin (Ess) *
24 Jack Boyd (NB) *
24 Josh Corbett (GC) *
24 Noah Cumberland (Ric) *
24 Jake Gasper (PM) *
24 Brodie McLaughlin (Fra) *
23 Blake Coleman (BL) *
23 Ollie Henry (Col) *
23 Bailey Laurie (Cas) 1
22 Jean-Luc Velissaris (NB) *
22 Boyd Woodcock (Sou) 0
21 Kye Declase (Wer) *
21 Sam Glover (Col) *
21 Ryan Hebron (GWS) *
21 Harry Morrison (Syd) *
20 Francis Evans (Gee) *
20 Tom Fields (Sou) 0
20 Oliver Lowe (San) *
20 Mat Walker (NM) *