A ‘JUNIOR’ with the experience of a veteran.

Prolific midfielder and two-time All-Australian Elise O’Dea has officially arrived at Carlton after a trade was secured with Melbourne.

O’Dea will pull on the Navy Blue alongside fellow Demons recruit Maddy Guerin, who both made the move to the Blues in exchange for pick No.15 in the 2020 NAB AFLW Draft.

Despite being a formative figure in women’s football, O’Dea has held onto a not-so-fitting nickname in her AFLW career.

“I started football when I was 14 in Canberra and there was no youth girls comp back then, so you just went straight into the open women’s comp,” O’Dea said.

“There was another Elise in the team and so I got pinged with the nickname ‘Junior’.

“I was stuck with Junior and then over the years as I’ve matured it’s become ‘June’, but hopefully it never gets to the point where it becomes ‘Senior’.” 

For the tireless on-baller, the choice to nominate Carlton was not an obvious one at first but couldn’t be ignored after initial meetings were had.

Now officially a Blue, O’Dea believes the move to Ikon Park will pose a new challenge it what will be another chapter of her decorated career.

“To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what I wanted from football and where I wanted to go with football. Then I met with ‘Harf’ and Brett and it was just a relaxed coffee chat,” she said.

“I wasn’t expecting what they came out with in terms of the way they saw my football and me as a player. They just talked about Carlton, the Club and the environment. 

“I had never really considered a move but I couldn’t help but be tempted and I’m excited at the thought of a new challenge, a new environment and just getting to meet a whole bunch more awesome new people.”

O’Dea will be greeted with a familiar face at her first training session, having played alongside premiership teammate Darcy Vescio at the Darebin Falcons.

Slotting into a young dynamic midfield, O’Dea is eager see what she can add to the youthful core through the centre.

“I’m pumped to play with the likes of Lucy McEvoy, Prespakis, Egan, Georgia Gee – there is some terrific youth, but there’s also terrific leaders around that as well like ‘Loynesy’, Al Downie and ‘Moods’,” she said.

“I know a lot of the Carlton girls, whether I’ve played against them or just know them from it being a small world.

“As much as I want to come in and help mentor or teach them things, I’ve got so much to learn from them.”