THINGS could have been very different for Amelia Velardo in 2025. But instead of dwelling on what could\u2019ve been, or how things were, she\u2019d much rather focus her attention on where everything is placed now.<\/p>\n
And all things considered, they’re going pretty great.<\/p>\n
When the childhood Bluebagger runs out onto IKON Park this afternoon, it\u2019ll be her ninth consecutive game of the campaign, having only missed the Round 1 win against her former side Collingwood due to a delayed pre-season through injury.<\/p>\n
While she didn\u2019t miss a game in the 2023 season, Velardo regards this as her \u201cmost enjoyable year\u201d, having now chalked up 40 games at the level.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor me personally, just playing is really fun.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs a group, we\u2019re so connection and the belief this year has rung true throughout the whole side. You\u2019re running out there not just manifesting that you can do it and speaking it out into the world – we\u2019re running out there knowing we\u2019ve done the work, knowing we can perform and knowing the type of footy we can play.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis year, I\u2019ve found a good balance within my footy of finding joy in the game again. That was probably lacking at times last year.\u201d<\/p>\n
As Velardo credits her team and club for not riding the rollercoaster of the season, it\u2019s that love of the game which has been the ride with plenty of ups and downs for Carlton\u2019s No.1.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s been a battle which she concedes she has struggled with, particularly when in and out of the side whether due to injury or form. But she treats it as no coincidence that in a year where she finds herself playing footy with a smile on her face, the rewards have come.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe speak about the love of the game a lot in our group. It\u2019s something I\u2019ve reflected on, because I\u2019ve really had a love-hate relationship with football over the last few years with injuries and the like. We talk about when you love the game, the game loves you back.<\/p>\n
\u201cI really struggled with that. Even in pre-season, I was having the time of my life, feeling good and confident – and then I\u2019m out for eight weeks because my toe couldn\u2019t handle it! It\u2019s such an emotional rollercoaster at times, but when I\u2019ve found joy in my training and pushing myself and wanting to show up every day to see how hard I could challenge myself, I started to reap the rewards.\u201d<\/p>\n
So what brought about the mindset shift?<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s the aspect of footy not lasting forever. It\u2019s gone from playing with a fear of what the consequences could be to changing my mindset: it\u2019s approaching every week making sure I don\u2019t have any regret when looking back.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s important to reflect on your younger self. I did a bit of journaling at the start of the year where I\u2019d write down how I was feeling\u2026 I read it back now and think \u2018wow, that\u2019s chalk and cheese to the last couple of years\u2019. Being proud of myself has been a really big thing this year.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s also the acknowledgment that what we have right now is so special. You can easily get caught up in the fear of not playing or making mistakes, but it\u2019s staying true to your self-belief, knowing what you can do and how that can contribute to the side\u2026<\/p>\n
\u201c\u2026 Plus, winning makes things so much fun!\u201d<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve really had a love-hate relationship with football over the last few years with injuries and the like. We talk about when you love the game, the game loves you back.<\/p>\n
You only need to look at the reaction of Velardo after the Round 3 win over Brisbane to see just how fun it can be.<\/p>\n
That was Velardo\u2019s first win of the season, and she concedes she \u201cwent a bit wild that night\u201d – but that was reciprocated by her teammates in kind. For Velardo and the Blues, it was confirmation of what they\u2019d been working towards.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was almost like it had been something we\u2019d been working on for so long, and it just clicked. We challenged Hawthorn the week before, but it was almost that moment from \u2018we think we\u2019re good enough\u2019 to \u2018we know we\u2019re good enough\u2019. And that\u2019s exciting.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had so much fun that day, I really did.\u201d<\/p>\n
Exciting and fun are two of the main words that any onlooker of Carlton\u2019s AFLW side would use to describe the team this season. Already registering their most wins in a home-and-away campaign, the Blues now have three more games in the home-and-away season to keep their 2025 alive.<\/p>\n
And she\u2019s hoping that the fun remains, that the Blues\u2019 extremely watchable brand of football remains and the enthusiasm of the team remains.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho excites me? It\u2019s hard to go past Poppy Scholz. She said she was born in 2006 the other day, that was a bit of a reality check. We\u2019ve got a really great relationship\u2026 she\u2019s so exciting and going to be scarily good in the future, plus she\u2019s got the purest heart as well.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd Maddy [Hendrie], I would love to reciprocate the love she gave me last week! When I read that\u2026 my parents were pumped, let me tell you. We\u2019re so close off the field, and when you get to play footy with your best friends, it\u2019s so fun. Having her around makes me a better person and player: she always reminds me to find the joy in life off the field, especially when things start to feel a bit serious.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"THINGS could have been very different for Amelia Velardo in 2025. But instead of dwelling on what could\u2019ve…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":223482,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,55,639,85,83],"class_list":{"0":"post-223481","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-afl","8":"tag-afl","9":"tag-au","10":"tag-australia","11":"tag-australian-football-league","12":"tag-australianfootballleague","13":"tag-sports","14":"tag-text"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/223481","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=223481"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/223481\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/223482"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=223481"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=223481"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=223481"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}