THE HIGHS and lows of footy. 

Carlton’s challenge this season has not been riding the emotional rollercoaster that has come with the 2023 AFLW season, where the Blues now sit 4-4 with a fortnight to go.

Still well and truly in the hunt, the Blues’ last two weeks have been a reminder that football lies on a knife’s edge, but for Carlton favourite Gab Pound, she wouldn’t have it any other way.

With the review from the GWS game done and dusted, attention now turns to this weekend. How does that old football adage go?

“The classic cliche is we take it one week at a time, so that’s all we’re looking for — just one week ahead. The season isn’t over at all,” Pound said.

“There were a lot of fundamental errors [against GWS], but the good news is those are things that we can work on.

“[Mathew Buck] mentioned the other day that our growth isn’t always going to be linear. We were feeling pretty good after a few wins there, now there’s been a couple of narrow losses where some wins were just taken out of our grasp.”

In a year which was described in all corners as a ‘new era’ for Carlton, it has very much proved to be exactly that. While the likes of Pound and Brea Moody have consistently performed each week, there’s another wave coming through — and that’s not even counting established Abbie McKay and Mimi Hill, at 22 and 21 years of age respectively.

Pound has loved what she’s seen of the next generation which looks primed to take control of this Carlton team’s story, which the defender has been part of since the very first chapter.

“The young ones have really impressed me. Mia Austin as the Rising Star this week, I’m very excited for her: it’s a long time coming, she’s been chipping away at it,” she said.

“I’m very excited for her to get up and about, as well as Keeley Sherar who’s been ripping it up in the middle.”

Rather than getting lost in the future, Pound and the Blues knows it’s all about the present, with a massive fortnight to come.

And there’s no better way to channel your focus than with the Club’s traditional arch rival - and a few familiar faces - waiting in the wings this weekend.

“I’ll get ‘Mads’ Prespakis and ‘Brok’ [Brooke Walker] into a bit of a headlock and a bit of a nudge! It should be good fun.

“It’s going to be highly contested over at Windy Hill, expect a really good game I think.”