At the conclusion of the 2022 AFLW season, Carlton was at a crossroads.
After a poor win-loss record with only six wins from 20 games that were played in the two seasons of 2022, an independent review of their program was carried out.
The review flagged a lack of system clarity, part-time coaching, and insufficient high-performance culture.
It identified the need for stronger coaching structure and playing standards which saw Senior Coach at the time, Daniel Harford, as well as football boss Brett Munro depart the club, as well as multiple other staff members and players leaving the program.
The overall plan was to pivot with a clearer vision and invest properly in the women's program.
They employed Matthew Buck, an assistant coach in the VFL program as the full-time senior coach, which is still not the norm for an AFLW program, and found pace with upgrading facilities and investing in players they had on their list.
Alongside Buck, Ash Naulty became the Head of AFLW, and a fresh coaching panel was brought in, including Tom Couch (development/midfield), Glenn Strachan (backline), Christina Polatajko (forwards), and Lachlan Swaney (development).
There are now eleven people alongside Buck in a full-time capacity within the AFLW program.
Interestingly, the club decided to wipe a clean slate for the players too and ask them to formally recommit to the new look plan -- whether they were under contract or not, they had to elect whether they would continue to be a Blue.
Fourteen of those players are still with the squad today. Including current leaders Abbie McKay and Mimi Hill as well as seasoned figures like Gab Pound and Darcy Vescio.
Despite these changes, the 2023 team struggled on the field and did not make finals, finishing with only four wins and missing the top eight. But they were playing the long game, and now it's working.
They pivoted to have a clearer vision for the future and fast forward to now, the Blues have clearly turned a corner. Given the short nature of an AFLW season, it took a couple of years to fully kick in.
This weekend they play a preliminary final against the Brisbane Lions who have been premiership winners twice and appeared in six Grand Finals.
The Blues' structure, investment in young players, and club culture appears, from the outside to be solid gold, and that's how they feel inside the four walls too.
"I've never had this much fun playing footy," key midfielder Mimi Hill said this week.
"That's easy to say, we haven't been this successful in the past, but I honestly just feel really happy to be out there."
They've recruited well too, with two notable youngsters in sister of captain Abbie, Sophie McKay, and Poppy Scholz leading the charge on the field and bringing an obvious lively presence off the field too.
"In the last quarter of our last game Poppy played on from a mark and just brushed somebody off and I was like, imagine doing that at 18 or 19, she's so strong... they're just stepping up in the big moments and I'm so proud of them, it definitely lifts the rest of the team."
Hill is a star of the side and admits she knew they were good, but not this good.
"I had a really good feeling about this season; in previous seasons you have had to kind of manufacture that hope but this year it was real.
"There was one moment this pre-season where Jess Dal Pos and I stood back and was like 'We're really good at footy.'"