Madeline Keryk grew up in a Collingwood-supporting family, so naturally she was a tad worried about how her mother would react on hearing her daughter would be donning navy blue in 2017.
The 21-year-old midfielder still lives at home and enjoys using her Carlton gear to annoy her "one-eyed" mother.
"I love stirring her up. She gets a bit annoyed," Keryk said with a laugh.
"She’ll cheer for me, but I’m not sure I’ll be able to get her to cheer for the (Blues)."
Keryk had a nervous wait on draft day in mid-October. She was one of 50-odd players invited, but as the picks rolled into the hundreds, she was still waiting to hear her name called.
"Doubts start to creep into your mind, like ‘What if it doesn’t happen? What are you going to do?’ It was hard because we just had to sit there and wait," she said.
Carlton eventually selected her, with pick No.115. Keryk was "stoked", having toured the Blues’ facilities earlier in the year and leaving impressed with the club’s plans for its women’s team.
"It seemed like a very good set up and a place where I could really develop my footy," she said.
Madeline Keryk is thrilled to call Carlton home. (Photo: AFL Media)
The Ikon Park facilities were a big step up from what she was used to when she started playing in local competitions in Melbourne’s north-west when she was six.
Keryk played junior footy with boys until she was 15, the cut-off age for mixed competition. She then transitioned into youth girls footy before joining Melbourne University’s team.
"I’m probably one of the few girls (in the NAB AFL Women’s competition) who’ve played footy all the way through,” Keryk said.
"I got to play for Melbourne in 2013 in the first women’s AFL exhibition series game and then played for the Western Bulldogs (in the others), so I was lucky I came through when all those opportunities were there."
Carlton coach Damien Keeping is a big fan, pointing to Keryk's versatility as a player and her infectious personality.
"She’s a midfielder who can go forward. She can run her opponents off their feet," Keeping said of the inside midfielder, who uses the ball well and is known for her fierce tackling.
Madeline Keryk gets stuck into pre-season training. (Photo: AFL Media)
Keryk is about to start a master’s degree in physiotherapy at Melbourne University, and is aware she’ll need to be a great time manager to balance studying, playing football and working part-time.
"It’ll be quite challenging to fit in the training, the gym work, recovery and the bits and pieces you need to do to get yourself right," she said.
"If you’re not organised, you can’t fit it all in."
