A HOODOO ended at Henson Park, but there’s still work to do.

Carlton AFLW Senior Coach Mathew Buck gave full credit to his playing group for a big win on the road against Sydney, but was still well aware of the areas of the Blues’ game to tidy up going forward.

The Blues got the job done at the contest and looked dangerous every time they went forward, coming away from Henson Park with a 27-point win - the Club’s first win at the venue in four attempts.

Speaking post-match, here’s what Buck had to say.

On how the game played out:

“I thought it was a really hot contest around the football, we thought it was going to be. Sydney has been terrific in that area all year and the No.1 tackling team in the competition.

“We used that as a little bit of a focus coming in, our ability to get in there and compete against that while holding our shape on the outside was going to be important. It ebbed and flowed throughout the day.

“They had some moments where they had the momentum, and we had more than they did at different times. Credit to our girls: we stuck to the task for a long time and managed to punish.”

On the midfielders getting to work:

“It was nice to come to Henson Park and walk away with a win and a really solid performance.

“The contested numbers are really great, and that’s where we start our game where everyone builds their method out from. We’ve got some great midfielders going through there that lead the way for us.

“Claudia Whitfort is an addition to the team this year that has been terrific in that space all year. Abbie McKay plays different roles for us in different games to ensure that we can get wins, then we’ve got Mimi Hill with her class on the outside. We’re well-supported in there.”

On what worked well:

“We’ve been doing a little bit of work on our patterns post-clearance, what that means for us when we win the ball back or whether it’s an opportunity to win the ball back. I thought that really shone through for us today, standing up in the contest and to then win the ball and take it to our end.

“For a long part of the game, I thought our forwards looked really dangerous throughout the day - it was whether we could get enough ball to them. The contest helps, and I was really pleased with the patterns post-clearance.”

On how the forward line functioned:

“I’m a bit 50/50 on it. I’m really happy they were able to hit the scoreboard and have plenty of shots, but on the other side of the coin I think we left some out there.

“There was more ability for us to punish, and if we can execute our fundamentals a little bit better and more consistently, we’ll be able to hit the scoreboard a little bit harder. Their ability to get up and down the ground on a hot day here was terrific.”

On Nell Morris-Dalton’s impact:

“She’s played a lot of footy this year. She seems to play at her best when she continues to play. I met Nell earlier this year when she joined our VFLW program, and what she said was all she wanted to do was love her footy again.

“If you see Nell during the week with our group, she’s a laugh a minute and has the girls losing it all the time. She’s certainly enjoying her footy away from game day, and that’s shining through on game day.

“She gives us that deep forward option, she’s a good mark overhead and she finishes her work really well. She’s been a great addition and we love having her.”

On injuries to Abbie McKay and Síofra O’Connell:

“We didn’t need to put [McKay] back on, she could’ve come back on late. We’ll assess that one during the week.

“Síofra had a bit of a leg knock, I’m not too sure what it was but she was able to come back on and finish the game.”

On the need for percentage in a ladder logjam:

“I haven’t looked too hard at it, we’re just trying to get our game in really good order. I know the teams at the very top of the ladder are putting some big scores on at the moment and their percentage is through the roof.

“It will be important to climb and hold onto specific positions: all we can do is make sure we can connect better and execute our fundamentals a bit stronger.”

On Darcy Vescio’s impact on return:

“It’s been great to be able to throw Darcy forward again. Throughout the pre-season, they went through half-back, but they seem to have some real energy as a forward at the moment. We saw that today.

“They don’t have to do everything, they were well-supported through Sophie McKay and Poppy Scholz and Nell Morris-Dalton. Darcy has some moments, and we know they’ll be really exciting moments.

“To come back after 4-5 weeks off with a calf and have an immediate impact was really pleasing and a credit to our high performance and medical staff, who do a terrific job with our players.”