FOR GLENN Strachan, his first outing as Senior Coach was one he won't be getting forgetting any time soon. 

The former VFL player turned VFLW coach watched his side take home a 31-point win in a determined performance.

Away from home against the Cats, Strachan saw what his side had worked on in pre-season come to fruition on the field – and he couldn’t be prouder. 

“We got so much stuff right that we’d been practising for a while,” Strachan said.  

“It was a great reward for effort, all the girls chipped in and played their role really well – that was the most pleasing part.”

One of the team’s main focuses over pre-season was forward connection – a definite highlight of the Blues’ game in Round 1. 

Scoring nine majors from seven individual goalkickers, Carlton’s work moving forward was seamless, with the help of Keeley Sherar’s eight inside 50s and Mia Austin and Sophia McCarthy’s aerial work.

“We kicked 9.5, so probably our ability to connect forward of the ball was great,” he said. 

“We had some really strong performances from our key forwards like Mia Austin and Sophia McCarthy, which then allowed us to work hard in the contest after they made the contest themselves.”

Carlton fielded nine AFLW-listed players, as well as two players that were previously on an AFLW list, meaning game experience was a plus in the first clash of the year. 

Seeing the likes of Lila Keck and Meg Robertson for the first time in the Navy Blue, as well as some returning talent in Lulu Beatty and Maddy Guerin, the AFLW players got to work fitting into the VFLW system under Strachan.

“Great games from all of our listed girls, some strong individual performances, I’d hate to shout out anyone in particular because all of them contributed really strongly,” he admitted.  

“It gives the whole program a lift when the listed girls play well in the VFLW – we’ve still got lots of learning, we’ve got some really young players playing.”

Sophia McCarthy and Hannah Bowey have both come from North Melbourne’s AFLW list, who will be the Blues opponent on Good Friday. 

While Strachan hasn’t tried to get any inside intel, he is bullish on the Blues sticking to their system and producing another positive performance away from home. 

“Sophia is a strong-marking, key-position forward and Hannah is a really hard-running wing defender, which we ask a lot of both of them because of their exposure to the system previously,” he said. 

“We are strongly focused on our process and getting better every week. 

“Our goal - even though we played well - is to play even better this week. As long as they are playing their role and doing it within our system, then I’ll be happy.”

The Blues will take on the Roos on Good Friday at Arden Street. For more information, click here.