BREAKING new ground.
Five years ago, Darcy Vescio became the first AFLW player to kick a goal for the Carlton Football Club. Some 1,850 days after that famous opening night, they became the first player in the AFLW competition to reach 50 goals.
Few in the game are as admired as Carlton's No.3, as evidenced by the reaction of both Bluebaggers and wider footy fans when their second goal on Sunday evening brought about the milestone major.
On Monday, Vescio spoke to media about that landmark, while also sharing their thoughts on a number of key questions as the competition as a whole prepares to enter an exciting new phase, with 2022 marking the final season before a full 18-team competition.
On becoming the first AFLW player to reach 50 goals:
“It’s a bit of a funny one. It’s one that has been built over many years and something I was made aware of coming into this season… I was aware that I was close, but if you start becoming really goal-focussed, usually the things you need to do to get the goals drop away.
“The goals haven’t really flowed as easily this year so I’m happy to get there. I try to focus on process rather than outcome, but I was really happy to get the two yesterday and reach that milestone.”
On constant improvement since season one:
“I like to think personally that I have evolved with the League. We’ve seen things change a lot over the last six years, and I’m excited to be part of that change.
“I feel like personally, as a player, I’ve grown a lot and physically changed a lot over those six years. I’m really proud to be part of this League and be able to be in it, see the change in it and be part of that.”
On having their sights set on 100:
“Hopefully it doesn’t take another six seasons to get there! It might not be me, but the ultimate goal is players are kicking 50 goals in a season. I hope we get to a point where there are enough games and enough support around players to be able to do that.”
On how many games they’d like to fixtured going forward:
“With 18 teams next year, I would love to see a 17-game competition. I think even playing 14 games is significantly different to 10, and 10 is different than seven.
“You want to be able to build form throughout a season: I think that’s where you see bigger bags getting kicked and higher scoring. Once we reach that, I think that’s when you see that scoring increase.”
On the Blues’ form line this season:
“When the fixture was released, we knew we’d have a really tough start to the season and we tried to embrace that and go ‘we’ll know where we’re at’. Obviously it hasn’t gone as well as we would’ve hoped, but these things happen.
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“I feel like we’ve been able to build some form over the past couple of weeks. Even if it didn’t show early, we’ve been able to get things rolling now. It’s better late than never, and we’re happy with the past couple of weeks and the results we’ve gotten from that.”
On the new forward-line dynamic:
“We don’t really have that taller target, but we’ve really embraced ourselves as a dynamic forward line. It’s been exciting seeing ‘Jonesy’ come in: she’s worked really hard for a few years and is finally able to show what she can do out on the field. It’s been awesome watching her grow.
“People like Nic Stevens, Georgia Gee — they’re always workhorses around the field. We’re still adjusting to what that feels like and looks like, but I’ve seeing Jess Good come in as well. She’s played less than 10 games of AFL football, so her growth will be huge over the next few years as well.”
On embracing change in the AFLW competition:
“The way I see it, I want to be playing with the best players and I want to see how that changes us as a team. When I started seeing players like Maddy Prespakis come in, Georgia Gee, Abbie McKay — those sort of players are the ones I want to play with for a long time. I know that personally, I have to grow with that and rise to that level: it makes no sense to not embrace that.”
On constantly adapting their game:
"Each year I try to improve, and I like to think my best footy is still ahead of me. Athletically in the past couple of years, I’ve changed a lot, and I’m excited to see where that heads in the next few years. You have to evolve as the League does.
"I feel like I’ve been able to grow as a player a lot more and if I want to stay in this league, that’s what I have to do. I’m 28 now, I’m hoping I’ve still got five seasons or so. We’ll see what evolution takes place from here."
