THE SIGHT of six players in Carlton’s inner circle for the team song was a representation of the change that has swept the Blues in recent months.

And the energy was palpable in the rooms following Carlton’s first win of the season, a hard-fought if not scrappy four-point triumph over Richmond.

It wasn’t always pretty, particularly in the second half for the Blues, but it was simply a case of the Blues needing to get the ball rolling from a results perspective after an off-season of trying to shift the energy at IKON Park.

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AFL R1 | Hayward post-game

Carlton Media spoke to Will Hayward after his first win in the Navy Blue.

Will Hayward was one of those six players inside the circle, joining Ben Ainsworth, Campbell Chesser, Harry Dean, Ollie Florent and Jagga Smith as those who opened their Navy Blue accounts.

On a night which was also the first time they were experiencing a home Carlton crowd, Hayward said post-match that it was “something I won’t forget”.

“It’s crazy that this was just a home-and-away season crowd. The Blues faithful are amazing,” Hayward told Channel 7.

He followed up with Carlton Media post-game: “to experience the roar of the fans in such a big game for the Club was really special.”

There was a second-quarter goal for Hayward as well, saying he “was carrying like a bit of a pork chop” when his banana sailed through and into the Carlton Cheersquad as the Blues got on a roll in the second term.

It gave the Blues a handy buffer going into half time, but they had to fight it out in the second half as the Tigers had all the momentum.

Admitting the Blues were still on the hunt for a four-quarter performance, Hayward still didn’t want to take away from the emotion of the likes of Dean and Smith celebrating their first ever wins in the AFL.

With 186 career games under his belt, the forward believes he’ll look back on the last two weeks as key footnotes in his time in the game when it’s all said and done.

“It was such a nice moment. [Jagga and Harry] are going to be part of a lot of wins in the future.

“I’m going to be an old guy one day: to be able to say I played my first game for Carlton with those two boys, that’s pretty special.”