For Mark Corrigan’s Casey side, it’s been a whirlwind of a year filled with wins. Now, the Demons have just one more win to tick off before it can be crowned VFL premiers once again. Corrigan knows this victory will be the hardest challenge yet.

After such a dominant VFL campaign, many Casey Demons members are relieved to have won through to this year’s Grand Final on Sunday. Following a dominant home and away campaign that netted only the one loss, the minor premiers were wanting to get the chance to convert their regular season record to an appearance on the league’s biggest day.

To do so, Casey had to take on its one vanquisher for the season in Brisbane.

Having lost to the Lions in Round 22 up in Brisbane, Casey coach Mark Corrigan knew how tough the task would be to exact revenge in a cutthroat Preliminary Final at Casey Fields. Yet the Demons proved their worth, running away after quarter time to emerge 51-point winners and emphatically book the first spot in the Smithy’s VFL Grand Final this Sunday.

Many Demons stood out in another even performance that typifies Casey’s season. Yet Corrigan found two Dees to highlight for special praise as they flew under the radar.

“One player I think it’s important to make mention of is Jake Bowey,” Corrigan told Casey Media. “Off a bit of a break that was through no fault of his own, I thought he was outstanding in terms of how clean he was, as well as his ability to defend well.

“He really set us up from behind the ball. He then used the ball so well.”

With Bowey leading an experienced defensive group, Corrigan’s attention in the lead-up to the Preliminary Final turned to the midfield. The last time Casey played Brisbane, Corrigan said the Dees got “beaten up” in the contested disposal count by the likes of Mitch Robinson and co.

For the Preliminary Final, the Lions would throw in star midfielder Rhys Mathieson as another midfield full for Casey to contend with. Corrigan used his star players to counter Brisbane’s engine room power.

“Our learning from last time was all about our midfield ­– we were around minus 50 in the contest last time we played,” Corrigan said. “With their personnel, that was always going to be a big challenge for us. If we won the contested ball then, given what we have ahead of the ball in terms of our forwards, we liked our chances if we won the ball from the middle.

“Jimmy Munro was excellent. Mitch White was too ­– he went to Mathieson after quarter time and nullified his influence. It was a huge effort by him and it formed a significant reason as to why we got on top in that area.”

But now the effort is behind them, the Demons are quickly preparing for a Grand Final bout with Southport. In another clutch finals battle with an interstate team, Corrigan knows Southport will be a tougher challenge than when the Dees played the Sharks earlier in 2022.

“We’re really excited. We played some really good footy throughout the year and now we’re at the last one, but it only gives us an opportunity,” Corrigan said. “Now it’s about who can play the best footy for the two hours on Sunday, so we’re excited about it.

“We’re up and about and it’s good to be playing footy at this time of the year.”

Despite there being plenty of pressure placed on the week, Corrigan is keeping his messaging simple. The Casey coach said he has told players to be grateful to have the opportunity to play after recent COVID interrupted seasons.

“We’ve got some perspective due to what happened in the past two years,” Corrigan said. “For us, we don’t take each week and game for granted, especially now it’s brought us the chance to be playing in a Grand Final, which may have more significance and be more special due to what we’ve all gone through recently.”

Yet for some of Corrigan’s more senior Demons, it may be hard not to think a bit more about the Grand Final. Captain Mitch White and cult hero Jimmy Munro both played in Casey’s recent Grand Finals, which were in 2016 and 2018, when the Demons unfortunately lost to Footscray and Box Hill respectively. White has admitted he’s glad this week’s contest isn’t at Marvel Stadium, where both of those losses have occurred, so Casey can rid itself of its previous losses on the big stage.

Corrigan said the pair will help keep the group centred ahead of this year’s Grand Final.

“We’ve got White and Munro in our group who have been there before and got close but not quite close enough,” Corrigan said. “For those guys, that will experience will hopefully be invaluable for them.

“Ultimately it’s a pretty new group, so it’s about what this new crop of players can do this Sunday to play our best footy.”

The Casey coach is already looking intently at Southport and analysing ways to combat their strengths this Sunday.

Corrigan said their skeleton is based on players just recently out of the AFL system, making them a strong and even opponent.

“Southport has been outstanding,” Corrigan said. “They’ve played a really strong brand of footy that’s been consistent each week. They’ve got mature bodies and experienced players, as well as good youth which have played strong footy in this year’s finals.

“They’re going to be a good challenge for us.”

Before Casey can completely devote its attention to Southport, Corrigan knows he has some tough selection calls to make.Melbourne listed players like Taj Woewodin, Jake Melksham and Deakyn Smith are all expected to be hovering for selection for the Grand Final, with winger Fraser Rosman sadly unable to play due to entering concussion protocols following the Preliminary Final.

Corrigan said he expected these decisions to come, especially considering the fact that Casey is an AFL-aligned club.

“It’s going to be an interesting week considering we’ve got a few AFL players who can come back into the team,” Corrigan said. “There’ll be some tough calls to make and some may miss out, especially some who have contributed so much throughout the year.

“Everyone will be a part of it and has played a significant role to us getting here. A couple who missed last week will be looking to get through this week, so it’ll be an interesting selection.”

Yet when the team is named and the first siren rings out at Ikon Park on Sunday, Corrigan will only have one thing on his mind. For his side, he just wants to see them present themselves well and play at their best on the big stage. If a premiership comes with it, then the Casey coach said it is just reward for a hard-working season.

“For us, it’ll be about knowing your role when going out on the field and being ready to go right from the first bounce,” Corrigan said. “If you take it back to the first time we played Southport, we got the jump on them but then it was a really even game afterwards.

“We know the start is important, but we back ourselves in if it’s not going our way. At the end of the day, we’re just looking to play our best and see how it all pans out.”