COURTNEY JONES walked into her third pre-season at Carlton hoping she’d taste her long-awaited debut at AFLW level.

She walks out of AFLW 6.0 as the Club’s leading goalkicker.

“I didn't realise until today one of the one of the girls messaged me about it,” Jones said.

“I think it's definitely not something I tried to focus on during the year, I really wanted to focus on helping my teammates get into the game. It just then allowed me to get to work and hit the scoreboard as well.”

By her own admission, that elusive debut may have been within her grasp but a change in mindset and work ethic was needed. 

"I'm not going to lie, last year I was lazy and in the first year, I was lazy. I thought I could just come in and because of my skills, I just thought I can roll into the side.

"It was made apparent very quickly that that wasn't good enough and I think just chatting with my teammates and them getting around me, I quickly realised that I needed to get my head in the game and push myself to get better numbers because I knew that I wouldn't be getting a game if I didn't step up.”

When pre-season testing rolled around, the numbers reflected the shift that Jones had made.

“My 2km was insane. That was a huge confidence booster for me heading into the season and then looking at my GPS results, my sprint was up and about and so was my high speed and my distance in total. So that then allowed me to realise my potential and be able to not play for myself, but be able to give what my teammates deserve out of me.” 

Jones' teammates have always been her biggest driver, and the one that has passed the leading goal-kicker baton is perhaps the teammate that has inspired her most.

“I think my first ever training session was in the first year of Carlton and 'Darce' was actually put as my mentor.

"As an underage player, just here as a train-on, it was a bit of a fangirl moment.

“Then six years down the track, I'm pulling on a guernsey with them, and I had so many meetings with them over the pre-season about what I wanted my footy to look like and they pushed me every step of the way.

“I don't think I would have pushed myself as much as I did this year without the backing of 'Darce'.”

The transformation from a player searching for their first game to a mainstay within the Carlton side has been an adjustment that Jones has had to get used to – but one she has relished in.

“It's just great that I have younger players coming up to me saying that they’re really impressed with what I'm doing because at the end of the day, my role model isn't myself. My role model is those around me and I try to be like them.

"It's just really cool that we're such a young group and hopefully we can bring in more younger players and take them along for the ride as well.”

What’s next for Jones is simple.

“Go again, really.

“We were all disappointed on where we finished this year. I think the last game really showed that we had a lot more to give this year.

“I think the goal is to just as a group, come out firing and ready to go. I see this group with massive potential and the ability to go somewhere.”