“GOOD luck to you, I say.”

Senior Coach Daniel Harford and co-captain Katie Loynes have both praised the efforts of midfielder Maddy Prespakis in Friday night’s season opener against Richmond.

And they're both of the belief that the opposition won't be able to stop her as easily as they please. 

The 2019 NAB AFLW Rising Star was pure class in a dominant display that saw her finish the night with 21 disposals, five tackles and a goal in Carlton’s 34-point win over Richmond.

Prespakis had to deal with some heavy attention from the opposition early in the game, who were clearly targeting the talented midfielder – attempting to use their physicality to throw her off her game.

However, as is a mark of a star player, the 19-year old took it all in her stride and fought through to produce an effort that left her co-captain singing her praises following the game.

“I was really proud of her effort tonight,” Loynes said after the game.

“In the first quarter she was getting roughed up quite a bit and she stuck at it and kept going. We’re really proud of her.

“She was very prepared for it tonight and obviously we had her back out there as well.”

Prespakis blew the competition away in her debut year, averaging 19 disposals and kicking eight goals on her way to sharing Carlton’s best and fairest.

After such a memorable season and a strong pre-season, Harford believes that Prespakis will continue to catch the attention of the opposition as the year progresses.

“She had such a dynamic year last year, she was such a prominent player for us. Then we lose another key midfielder to the Magpies so, naturally, teams would think that if you can stop Prespakis you’ll stop Carlton," Harford said.

“Pleasingly, we’ve got plenty more players that go through that area of the ground which we showed tonight.

“You can try and you can have a great time doing it: 'Mads' won’t let you by the way, but we’ve got other players to be able to come up and pick up the slack.”

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Carlton was also pleasingly able to give a number of young Blues the chance to play on a big stage, with 15,000-plus supporters flocking to Ikon Park for the AFLW season opener.

Debutants Lucy McEvoy and Grace Egan looked right at home, collecting 12 and 11 disposals respectively, while Georgia Gee was an important transition player who proved to be deadly with her accuracy by foot.

With a new crop of youngsters emerging for the Blues, Harford believes that the competition is now seeing more pathways for girls beginning to pay dividends.

“This is now a time where young girls who have played the game since they were eight or 10 are now getting a look at this level,” Harford said.

“They come in as natural footballers – they’re not girls that play footy. They’re footballers who just happen to be girls.”

“This is the generation that are starting that so it is pretty exciting.”

Carlton will now turn its attention to next week’s first 'home' game of the season, where it will host old enemy Collingwood at Ikon Park.