CASEY'S VFLW coach Peter Mercoulia wouldn’t be criticised if he sat back and constantly praised his side after a 6-0 start to the year. But he’s leading the charge for more hard work and fostering a wonderful team culture during the second half of the season.

After six rounds of the 2022 season, the Demons sit undefeated atop the ladder, having just crushed the Southern Saints by 89-points on Sunday at Casey Fields.

In his second season at the helm, Mercoulia is satisfied by the start, after lower player turnover throughout the off-season allowed for the Demons to consolidate their playing group early.

“We’ve had a pleasing start coming into the season,” Mercoulia told Casey Media.

“We had a list turnover of about 30 per cent this year, which we were pretty comfortable with when compared to last year when it was at 90 per cent.

The Demons were aided by some additional talent who have joined the ranks in the off-season and since flourished.

Mercoulia said Casey sought out “additional talented players on field but also really good people off field” as part of a key drive for the club as it continued to build its VFLW program.

Despite all of this planning and recruiting, Mercoulia can’t admit he saw the six wins and zero losses start to the season coming.

“I don’t think you ever go into a season expecting to start six and zero,” Mercoulia said.

“The reality is in this competition it’s more of an unknown week to week, not just because of the VFLW players but also because you don’t know the amount of AFLW players that the opposition sides will have in as well.

“We’ve been fortunate enough to have a really good relationship with Melbourne Football Club and have a strong alignment and understanding of the requirements, which is obviously added value.”

Although the wins are a pleasing element of the season to date, Casey’s coaching staff is most impressed by the culture and style with which the players are attacking their footy.

“They’ve been fantastic, they work really hard and hopefully we can continue to see improvements,” Mercoulia said.

 “For us, it’s not just about the wins and losses, it’s also about how the process is going."

According to Mercoulia, the players have been the key drivers of their current success, with a desire to learn and develop.

The Demons' coach is happy to admit that outsiders will judge his side off the wins and losses they have, but for himself as a coach, he is most proud when looking at the way the players have gotten to know each other and shared their stories to create a respectful culture.

And that appears to have been a key to the early on-field success.

When casting an eye over the major leader boards, including the standings in the VFLW Coaches’ Award, only Tahlia Fellows (in fourth place with 24 votes and eight goals for the year) sits anywhere near the top of the pack. Instead, Casey’s depth and system has been critical to beating teams with top-end talent.

“The level of competitiveness that the group has allows for them to share accolades together,” Mercoulia said.

“Tahlia Fellows has been a standout in my opinion, not only from the way she conducts herself as a player on field, but also the way she acts off it and the professionalism she has. She inspires me to work harder even as a coach.”

But Fellows isn’t the lone ranger playing an instrumental hand in the Demons’ undefeated start. In a “very competitive, humble and hard-working group of players”, Mercoulia admits there have been plenty of highlights so far in 2022.

“Cara McCrossan has come across this year with a real intent to get better and she’s definitely someone I consider AFLW-worthy,” Mercoulia said.

“Belinda Woolcock has really impressed me. She has a background in elite tennis and has brought the habits that she had then at the elite level across to our group. We’ve been lucky enough to hear in our ‘story time’ her experiences and the habits she created to try and succeed in the sport. It’s really inspiring others to better themselves away from the club.

“Melanie Hogg has been really consistent this year and has found a new level of physicality - that’s a point of difference for her, while Eloise O’Connor has come down from Brisbane and has brought a hard-edged and disciplined approach across as well from her full-time work in the army.”

It’s these unique skillsets that make the group better according to Mercoulia. His side may be undefeated at the halfway point of the VFLW season, but the Dees' coach isn’t willing to cast his eyes ahead to finals.

In fact, he still sees areas where his team can improve.

Casey is working hard on its defence and offence fluidity to be the best team in the competition when it matters.

“It’s about continuing to compete for longer periods of time in the contest, then getting our support layering correct and trying to have more fluid passages in offence,” Mercoulia said.

“Defensively we need to improve in different areas.

“It’s something we’ll be spending time on. Our next four-week block we concentrate on defence, so we’ll focus on our ability to turn over the ball high up the ground and play forward half footy which is something that all sides aspire to do in today’s game.”

With the likelihood of the next AFLW season being brought forward, Casey doesn’t expect to have any AFLW-listed talent playing for it in the back half of the year.

Many might groan at that, but not Mercoulia, who is instead excited about the opportunities that will arise for his VFLW list in the second period of the season.

“All games are defining, this season is exciting for us as a club and for me as a coach,” Mercoulia said.

“At the moment we have list spots filled by AFLW players that may be made available to VFLW talent and I’m excited for those challenges and the games coming up.

“Realistically, it’s a week-to-week proposition for us, starting with an exciting game with Collingwood this week.”

Mercoulia’s Dees will look to make it seven consecutive wins when they take on the Magpies on Saturday morning.