THAT came around fast.

When Carlton runs out for the elimination final against West Coast at IKON Park, the game will also mark Keeley Sherar’s 50th in Navy Blue.

For the childhood Bluebagger, it’s been a rapid rise for the player who earned a Rising Star nomination in her second game and entered 2025 as the Club’s reigning AFLW Best and Fairest winner.

Fellow 50-gamers Abbie McKay and Mimi Hill, plus best friends Brooke Vickers and Yasmin Duursma sat down with Carlton Media this week to chat about ‘Keels’.

Vickers: Keels is my best friend. I’m so excited to see her play 50 games. Hopefully it’s just the start of a long career for her.

Duursma: We get so excited to come to training because it’s so good driving together - it’s the highlight of our day. It’s so much fun, we have the best time and it’s such a good laugh.

Vickers: She doesn’t really drive us, usually…

Duursma: Oh my God. That is such a lie. When we played in Geelong, she parked in front of her mum because she didn’t want to drive.

Vickers: Lies.

Duursma: So then I drove. Great trip though - and ‘Brick’ felt bad afterwards so she transferred me for fuel! Keels is very patient, mainly with Brooke. She’s probably the most level-headed of us three.

Vickers: She needs to be, with both of us. We can be a lot. She’s always the calm one in the situation and tells us to settle down a bit. And she’s pretty level-headed on the footy field as well - and so humble. I debuted with her in 2022, so it’s really cool to see her get to 50 already.

McKay: It has come around so quickly. I feel like she’s still a baby.

Hill: She got a Rising Star nomination in her second game, she played so well against North. She would say herself she came in so raw having not played much footy, but she was so athletic. In that game, I was just like ‘she’s going to be a jet’. I wonder how she’ll feel about the 50th coming in a final, whether it’ll make it more nervous or less - probably less, because you’re most focussed on the final, right? Plus she doesn’t seem to get fazed by much.

McKay: She just has a crack, that’s just her. She does everything at 100 per cent and doesn’t expect praise. She has crazy kicks on goal that somehow go in, she can all of a sudden kick off both feet - she has no idea how. In a game, she kicked off her right foot and then was like to me ‘did I just kick off my right foot?’. I was like ‘I think you just did’. She’s so tenacious.

Hill: Good word.

Duursma: She deserves every bit of success she’s had, she has worked so hard to get to where she is. I don’t think there’s anyone more deserving to have had such a good career so far. With her work ethic, you don’t see anyone at training go harder for a ball than Keeley does and off the field, she’s always one of the first in the gym always getting it done. She’s so ferocious when it comes to her footy, she goes in so hard.

Vickers: She came in with so much potential, and she really worked hard on all her skills - especially her kicking, she’s probably one of our really good kicks in the team. She goes away from the Club and works so hard on her game with her gym work and fitness. At the start of pre-season, she’s always up there in the running with Ronnie and Dayna. It’s so good to see them go at it. She’s worked so hard on her game and it’s so good to see her get this far, and I can’t wait to see her get even better.

Duursma: Being out there on the field with her, especially this year having a lot more to do with the mids, seeing how hard she works makes me work harder. I always want to match that - if Keeley can do it, so can I. It’s really motivating. I would say I actually do look up to her heaps: even though she’s one of my best friends, I look up to her and see her as a good role model. The pure work ethic, I’m just like ‘I want to be like Keeley’!

McKay: I would say Keels doesn’t need to be the loudest in the room, but you can always feel her energy. She has a great positive energy and tenacity with everything she does, but she’s also a sweetheart at heart.

Hill: I wouldn’t say she flies under the radar because she’s such a legend, but she just gets it done. That’s her energy. She just goes in so hard that sometimes, Abs and I can just hold out and let her go. She’s such a hard worker but never complains about it, which is probably why it feels like it happened so quickly. She gets in, gets it done, turns up every week and plays her role. She’s a weapon.

McKay: She’s got a great balance of everything.

Hill: Brick has brought her out of a shell a bit more, which is nice. They have a very good relationship. It’s almost like they bicker the whole time, but it’s all good.

Vickers: We have a good TikTok account - hotwheelsrollinonbricks. Usually I’m the one who comes up with the ideas, and she’s the one who stops them from happening - because they’re not hot girl enough, I guess.

Duursma: Sometimes she saves the videos from flopping.

Hill: Our midfield coach Aasta loves birds, so now we all do. Keels was an original member.

McKay: And her favourite bird is the rainbow lorikeet. And she would be a rainbow lorikeet.

Hill: Yeah. Aesthetic, flies well but looks good while she’s doing it. Make sure you put that in the article.

Duursma: We just love her.

Vickers: We love you Keels, so much.