SHORTLY after being handed the reins of her childhood Club, Abbie McKay sat down to reflect on the history she was making - not only for Carlton - but in the AFLW as a whole.
Becoming the first father-daughter selection to captain the same Club, McKay thought back on the journey she had from stepping into IKON Park for the first time as a player to being voted Captain by her peers.
Here's whats she had to say.
On what the captaincy means to her and her family:
"We were talking about it over dinner last night, trying to think of anyone else that has done that.
"I don’t think there are too many out there, and in the women’s program, being the first father-daughter selection and now the first father-daughter captain. It’s really cool and I love that I have that history at the Club, it’s super exciting."
On how her Dad's position and support helped her career:
"My dad is pretty low key, there wasn’t a heap of pressure to go in the footy direction if that wasn’t what I wanted to do.
"It definitely helped, I went through a couple of tough years here not getting selected and Dad was a huge help throughout those years, knowing the ins and outs of the Club and what’s important. Not too much of a hindrance but definitely a big help."
On building up to the captaincy through the leadership group:
"Every little bit helps. Having the support system of Kez as Captain and Mim and I as vices together, we all lifted each other up.
"I always talk about it being one team, it doesn’t really matter who the captain is, you all want to be treated the same, so I think that has helped me get to where I am."
On learning resilience from her time at the Club:
"I think it’s contributed to my resilience exponentially. I think i came into the Club, as any 18-year-old comes in and they got selected for every game in under 18s and didn’t worry about that stuff.
"It taught me to work hard and that resilience definitely built over those few years."
On having sister Sophie at Carlton:
"Soph and I are very different people, she’s very loud and loves to be the centre of attention in a good way.
"I think she does like to come to me as a calm presence and someone that she can get whatever she needs off her chest and knows I’ll give her my honest truth."
On learning from Kerryn Harrington:
"'Kez' has taught me heaps, we have a great relationship, particularly over the last couple of years when I was vice and she was captain.
"I’ve learnt so much from her: how to present yourself as a person of the Club, how to present to the team as a whole and engage everyone and make change from something that might seem small to begin with.
"She set some great foundations throughout the Club that hopefully I can build on and keep building those standards."
On staying grounded as captain:
"There’s so many people around the Club that if you need someone to lean on, they’re always going to be there.
"You still want to be yourself, you got to the position by being yourself, so you don’t want to change who you are.
"I think there’s heaps of people around the Club that you can lean on and it’s not just ‘throw everything on Abbie and she’ll figure it out’, so I think that’ll be absolutely fine."
On the important qualities of a leader:
"I think being really personable and making sure people feel comfortable coming up to you, whether it’s a good thing or a bad thing, you want to hear it and go from there.
"I think being personable and open to everyone's opinions is super important and that’s something I’ll try and continue."
On some of the major changes over the off-season:
"We’ve got a couple of good young girls in, Soph, my little sister, but also Poppy Scholz and Erone Fitzpatrick is back from her ACL.
"All those three provide a lot of speed throughout the ground, so I hope they use that speed and we can move the ball a bit quicker and open the game up."
On making history as a Carlton person:
"People will say bits and pieces that no one else has any idea about but because I’ve grown up with Carlton, I’ve heard of that person, or event that happened.
"Especially being in the women’s program, I think we’re creating history every year, whether we’re increasing the amount of games we’re playing, the pay we’re getting, whatever it might be, we’re all a big part of history at the moment."
