THERE’S just over two weeks until the 2022 AFLW season kicks off and things are really heating up at IKON Park. 

Entering their sixth season in the Navy Blue, Darcy Vescio is extremely excited to see what the season brings with a relatively young side. 

“I’m really excited, I feel like it takes time to build chemistry and I feel like every season it’s been getting better,” Vescio said. 

“This season, I feel like we’ve become tighter as a group so I’m excited to see how that translates onto the field.” 

The Blues had a near-miss season in 2021, where they could have challenged for the finals but a couple of close losses cost them a spot. 

Listen to the full interview here. 

Vescio noted that they had focused a lot on what happened last season and are ready to move on from it in the 2022 season. 

“It’s a bit of a bizarre season to look back on, when we reviewed the season, ‘Harf’ sort of broke it down for us,” Vescio said. 

“We played 12 really poor minutes of footy throughout those first few games and that really cost us a lot.” 

With the games and season being a lot shorter in the AFLW system, there isn’t any room for mistakes or lapses, which Vescio noted was where it all went wrong last year. 

“I feel like AFLW is pretty cut throat and you have lapses in your game, it can cost you,” Vescio said.  

“It doesn’t really matter at what stages of the game you have those lapses, there’s not really time to claw it back. 

“We had good patches but overall we want to be playing a lot more consistently and I think that’s something we are building towards.” 

In terms of team cohesion, Vescio thinks the Game Changers are on the right track, proving themselves in a practice match against the Saints on the weekend, with Vescio kicking two goals in the early stages of the match. 

“Last week, we had a praccy game which was a good little test,” Vescio said. 

“I think as we build experience, it’s about understanding where you’re at in the game and knowing that you can wrestle that momentum back.”

As the AFLW continues to grow, with all 18 AFL teams soon to be represented in the competition, Vescio still feels humbled and proud to be a part of the competition and is looking forward to helping other women footballers make their mark as they have done. 

“When you sort of step back and look at how far it's come in a short amount of time, it fills me with a lot of pride,” Vescio said. 

“As you get older in your career, you really want to bring others into the game even more and show them the way forward. 

“I’m hoping I’ll be able to see people like Georgia Gee shining even more in the forward line as well as Nic Stevens, she’s my age but I feel like she’s really grown as a forward as well.”