Momentum is a dangerous thing in sport. It can’t be acquired with any real success; it simply decides to arrive, announced only by the inexplicable way it shifts the air around a team. And something has certainly shifted down at Princes Park.
If there had been any lingering doubts, Carlton’s semi-final demolition of Hawthorn well and truly dispelled them. From the first whistle, the Blues burst forth with a single-minded fervour usually reserved for teams far more experienced. There was no grace period for their opponents; no easing into it. There was only their unrelenting onslaught, picking up right where they left off the previous week, and they did it brimming with a joy contagious to fans and neutral onlookers alike.
It was the sort of jubilant performance that we’ve come to expect from the plucky young team this season – or that has, at the very least, become their trademark since a season-turning round-three victory over Brisbane. Back then, it was proof of concept. Now, nine wins later and on the eve of a preliminary final, it’s clear that it was a statement of intent.
They may be the underdogs of the final four, but they are undeniably the momentum team. And they’re not done yet.
While this has been nothing short of a “fairytale run” for the Blues, calling it something so whimsical risks ignoring just how heavily this turnaround was orchestrated. In the coming weeks, much will be made of the club’s AFLW post-2022 review: a process which saw a complete cultural overhaul and massive churn of staff around the team. Players and staff will call it a turning point, a necessary reckoning for a club that has failed to reach the same dizzying heights as their inaugural counterparts. They won’t be wrong in their assessment.
At the same time, what we’re currently witnessing can’t really be manufactured. The proper scaffolding can and should be erected, and it’s certainly necessary, but change needs to happen organically beyond a certain point. So perhaps there is a little touch of fairytale magic to it, after all.
Because it’s not just that the Blues are winning; it’s how they’re winning. And it’s how much sheer, unbridled fun they’re having in the process.
The good vibes around the team right now are palpable, and they’re spearheaded in no small way by their younger contingent, bringing an added spark both on and off the field. Sophie McKay has been the perfect ambassador of this new Carlton outfit: younger sister of the captain, goal-scoring extraordinaire, and the sort of unrelenting extrovert that inspires sporting dynasties. She’s a player who thrives off momentum, and her teammates clearly love her antics. Socials have been flooded this week with replays and recreations of her dramatic “injury cellies”, enjoying an organic cut-through that this league seldom sees, yet so often craves.
Perhaps there’s a broader lesson in this. All too often, people fall into the trap of an AFLW discourse that is interested only in the league’s deficits – perceived or otherwise. Discussion focuses solely on what is lacking or broken, or reasons why it doesn’t measure up to an ever-shifting standard. The league’s own administration partakes, attempting to manufacture solutions to all kinds of problems. But getting too bogged down in this pursuit means we risk missing what this competition already is, and what it is obstinately becoming in the meantime.
It’s not a problem to solve, or an issue to fix. It’s just pure, unadulterated footy.
It’s Darcy Vescio, inaugural Blue and cultural cornerstone of the club, kicking a huge torp to officially qualify their team for finals. It’s Abbie McKay, speaking of her sister’s shenanigans with nothing but love, admiration, and a wry expression that everyone with siblings knows all too well.
It’s Mimi Hill burying a sausage out of superstition, before running over Hawthorn with a dominant individual performance. It’s Kerryn Peterson’s cheek-splitting grin from the sidelines, as joyous as if she were actively playing. And it’s a group that fearlessly goes toe-to-toe with the toughest teams in the league, refusing to surrender without putting up a fight.
The match-up in this weekend’s preliminary final will surely be a formidable one. Brisbane is a team methodical in both preparation and execution, bolstered by the experience of having been here multiple times before. They’ve climbed this mountain, and they’re familiar with the hazards. But this may well be where Carlton finds their edge. There is only so much preparation to be done in the face of the unknown, after all. At a certain point, it becomes about the doing. And if there’s one thing the Blues have shown lately, it’s that they excel in the doing.
Momentum and moxie alone aren’t enough to topple the big teams, yet no big team has ever been toppled without it. And Carlton, with the wind at their backs and grins on their faces, are determined to prove as much.
