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Darcy Vescio set for 100th AFLW game as Carlton host Hawthorn

Bridie MoloneyPublished 2m ago2 min readBased on 1 source
Darcy Vescio set for 100th AFLW game as Carlton host Hawthorn
Image by 3093594 from Pixabay

Darcy Vescio will become the first Carlton player to reach 100 AFLW games when the Blues play Hawthorn in a home semifinal on Saturday at Princes Park, also known as Ikon Park.

A semifinal is one of the knockout games in the finals series, the stretch of matches that comes after the home-and-away season. Win, and you keep your season alive. Lose, and it is over. For Carlton, the game is a return to the big stage. The club did not make the AFLW final eight, the top eight teams, in 2022, 2023 or 2024, according to ABC News.

Vescio is one of Carlton's inaugural AFLW players, so the club's women's story and Vescio's career run side by side. The competition has grown from eight teams to 18 across the 11 seasons Vescio has played. That growth came with a fight over pay and conditions. Vescio played a pivotal role in the collective bargaining agreement, the deal that sets player pay, conditions and how professional the league is. They came out as non-binary in 2021.

Vescio has also made a point of being noticed for something smaller. They spoke about wearing long socks, describing them as a fidget toy, the sort of thing you fiddle with to settle your nerves. Vescio has size 11 feet, and the socks they were given before were very small and ended up around the heel. "I know it is uncomfortable for some people to look at," Vescio said of the socks. They are enjoying wearing them anyway.

Vescio was just as direct about the match itself. They said they want opposition players to "not feel welcome" when they come to Carlton's home ground. That is football talk, the kind you hear before every big game, and it has the same purpose: to make the other side feel the pressure.

North Melbourne's Ash Riddell has her own view of the ground. She has said publicly that she loves playing at Ikon Park.

Carlton and Hawthorn meet on Saturday, with a place in the next round on the line for the winner. For Vescio, the number will be 100. For the Blues, it is a chance to make a finals game count at home.

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