THE VFLW Blues are off to their hottest start to the season since the team’s inception. 

Winning only four games in 2022, Carlton already has three wins under their belts from four games, with a healthy percentage of 225.6. 

Integral midfielder Madeleine Di Cosmo spoke to the ‘State of Play’ podcast on the team’s start to the season and why they seem to be working so well together. 

“It’s good to get some wins early in the season and it’s a credit to the girls – we’ve put in a lot of hard work over the pre-season and now as well,” Di Cosmo said.  

“We’re still doing heaps of gym sessions and recovery –  the facilities at IKON Park are amazing and we put them to good use, so it’s good to see that it’s paying off and it’s exciting to see where the rest of the season will take us.” 

Di Cosmo was placed third in the Club's VFLW Best and Fairest last year, as well as being crowned the team's Rising Star of 2022. 

Listen to the podcast here.

Since then, the midfielder has taken her game to a new level, averaging 21 disposals, 10 tackles and five clearances per game. 

Acknowledging her drive to get better since 2022, Di Cosmo has certainly delivered on field, being in the top three-rated Carlton players in every game so far. 

“I started at half back last year and got moved into the midfield a bit later into the season and it felt a bit more natural to be in the midfield, but I didn’t feel like I was up to the fitness level in VFLW coming from the local league,” she said.  

“During the off-season, I really wanted to work on my fitness to put my best foot forward this season and I think I did – it’s really paying off in the games and my body feels a lot better running around. It’s good to get some reward for effort.” 

The 20-year old puts much of the improvement of the group down to the additional time spent at training and the extra skills sessions many have taken up on their own accord. 

One area of the competition that the Blues have been dominant in is how prolific they have been in front of goal: they have kicked a combined 17 goals in their last two games alone. 

Di Cosmo hinted there might be a reason for the sudden barrage of goals that the Carlton side have delivered.

“We have a cheeky goal-kicking competition which might go towards all the goals that we kick,” she said.  

“It’s good to have a good bunch of girls working well together.”