“If you can’t see it, you can’t be it.”
A COLD, windy and wintry Warrnambool day did little to dampen the spirits of AFLW Senior Coach Mathew Buck on the first day of the 2023 AFLW pre-season camp.
Having grown up in the coastal town, three hours from Carlton’s home at IKON Park, there was a certain air about Buck as he proudly watched the team train on his home turf at Reid Oval.
“It’s fantastic to be here,” Buck told gathering media at the pre-season session.
“I’m a local from way back. The weather hasn’t quite hit me that bad.”
Buck drew on his hometown connections, extending an invitation to Koroit premiership coach Chris McLaren and current Warrnambool Senior Coach Daniel O’Keefe to join in the session.
The latter would be more familiar to Carlton fans, with ‘DOK’ having played an important part in the Carlton VFL and AFL programs until taking up the position with Warrnambool Football Club for the 2023 season.
Connection has been an important part of the mantra introduced by Buck since taking over the reins at Carlton earlier this year, using his relationships with McLaren and Buck to help demonstrate this to the wider team.
“I’m really fortunate that Chris and ‘DOK’ have been great mentors of mine – and continue to be,” Buck said.
“It was nice to bring my team down today and I’ll certainly be ringing around for a strong debrief on their thoughts on how I went and where they see the improvement areas.
“They’re two really quality coaches that work down here in the league. It shouldn’t be underestimated how lucky we are down in this region.”
The connection piece for Buck also extends to the wider community, with the AFLW Senior Coach looking to encourage the team to be strong role models for the next generation of players.
As part of the pre-season camp, the team split their time across several different schools in the region, running skill sessions and speaking to students about what it takes to be a professional athlete.
Buck was joined by Abbie McKay, Keeley Sherar and Brooke Vickers at Our Lady Help Primary School, where the players fielded questions about their own journey to the elite level, some of the challenges they faced and – of course – questions about the CBA.
“If you can’t see it, you can’t be it,” he said.
“To bring players in and highlight that this is a career path for aspiring athletes no matter how young . . . it’s really exciting for the area, the community and the young people within it.”
Carlton fans in the region can see the AFLW players in action on Saturday morning from 10am at Reid Oval. There will be free coffee and a sausage sizzle courtesy of Barkly Smokehouse, as well as opportunities to meet all the AFLW playing group.
Registrations - plus more information - are available here.
