Carlton AFLW senior coach Mathew Buck and captain Abbie McKay spoke to the media on Thursday morning from IKON Park.
The was plenty to discuss in the lead up to Saturday's qualifying final against North Melbourne, which will be McKay's 75th AFLW game, and following the news of Buck's two-year contract extension.
BUCK ON SIGNING A TWO-YEAR CONTRACT EXTENSION
“Super easy decision, I've lovd my time at Carlton. I love driving up to work every day and knowing I'm coming in to be with a playing group who are hungry to get better and do it every day. We're incredibly well-supported at the footy club by a terrific board and CEO Graham Wright and General Manager of Football Chris Davies.”
“The vibes are high at the moment with finals this week which has been exciting as well. So an easy decision and really grateful that the Club has invested in me again.”
BUCK REFLECTS ON HIS COACHING JOURNEY
“I've been really fortunate to grow with my playing group and make plenty of mistakes along the way, and reflect and try to get better all the time. So, that's probably how I see it. I've had a chance to grow and learn what W football is and what the W community is, and I've loved being a part of that. You know, it feels like pure coaching in a way.”
WHAT EXCITES BUCK MOST ABOUT THE PLAYING GROUP
“That they'll continue to grow and evolve. Last weekend we had three 19-year-olds in our forward line who are really exciting players, and they've got so much to learn, but are already so good. Complement that with a midfield group who are just coming into their prime and playing some really great contested football, and then the defensive group, led by Harriet Cordner, who promises she'll play forever. So, it's an exciting team to be in charge of. But what we do have here at Carlton is great people around them as well.”
BUCK ON THE QUALIFYING FINAL MATCH-UP AGAINST NORTH MELBOURNE
“I think every time you finish playing North you really want to go and have another go at them again. I think that they won 39 of their last 41 games and obviously been dominant right throughout the competition. We feel like last time we made some inroads into that. We look forward to having another crack, especially around the contest part of the game. I thought we made some inroads there last time, but I'm looking forward to seeing how we can do that here at IKON Park on Saturday.”
MCKAY ON CARLTON'S MIDFIELD DEPTH AHEAD OF NORTH MELBOURNE
“I feel like we have great depth in our midfield. Against Brisbane last week, Claudia (Whitfort) didn't play three and a half quarters, and people like Keeley Sherar and Lily Goss came in for a little bit more midfield time, and they stepped up. Keeley is an awesome player and really underrated in the competition, she does a terrific job. Our depth holds up just fine, and we'll miss Claudia of course, but I have great belief in our midfield depth and some of those forwards coming up into the midfield.”
MCKAY ON HER 75TH GAME AND SOPHIE'S 25TH
“It's good. I didn’t know it's (Sophie's) 25th, but that's exciting for the whole family. Soph and I both love Carlton. We grew up Carlton fans, so we absolutely love playing here, and this program is really well supported by the wider club. We believe that the Club wants us to do well, and I think that's a great start. And hopefully we're doing them proud.”
MCKAY REFLECTS ON HER JOURNEY TO 75 AFLW GAMES
“There were obviously a couple of tough years there that I didn't get picked, or I played three or four games in a couple of years. But I think deep down I had a little bit of grit and belief that I would get there, maybe not 75, but I did think that I'd get back on track and find my groove in the system.”
MCKAY ON HER GROWTH AS A PLAYER AND PERSON AT CARLTON
“I think I've kind of grown with the program a little bit. I guess we used to come in at, you know, 5pm and leave here at 11pm, and now we come here as if it's our normal 9 to 5 job. So, I think that the high-performance kind of side of things, I've grown with the program, which has probably been really lucky for me, to be honest, because I probably came in and wasn't following many high-performance habits.
So I've kind of grown with the program, which has been really nice, and it also allows me to have a great perspective of these young kids coming in. And I understand that they're not going to walk in and know exactly how to do everything, and that's okay. And they'll find, you know, they'll find their feet over a couple of years.”
MCKAY ON THE CARLTON FANS AHEAD OF SATURDAY'S QUALIFYING FINAL
“We absolutely love the Carlton fans. They definitely show up. Last year, they showed up in finals, and we absolutely can hear them roaring from the stands. Like Bucky says, it is an away game. But when the Carlton fans come to IKON Park, it often doesn't feel like it. So, we absolutely love the Carlton fans, and we've been seeing all the love on social media from them throughout the week.”
