CARLTON coach Mathew Buck has eased fears over Amelia Velardo’s injury, describing it as "a little ankle tweak" after the Blues' thrilling five-point semi-final win over Hawthorn.
Velardo battled through the issue late in Saturday night’s 6.7 (43) to 6.2 (38) victory at Ikon Park, with Carlton unable to take her from the ground after running out of rotations.
BLUES v HAWKS Full match coverage and stats
The win booked the Blues a preliminary final against Melbourne.
The defender was visibly distressed after the final siren, dropping to her knees after helping Carlton survive Hawthorn’s desperate late push, but Buck’s initial assessment provided some relief amid fears of a more serious injury.
"We were out of rotations so stay out there and get it done – and she did," Buck said.
"Proud of her for that. I haven’t had an update, not sure where she’s at.
"She felt like she couldn’t really help in the dying minutes but she did, she was fantastic. Fills a gap and that’s enough sometimes in those moments.
"Footy’s a tough game and sometimes it asks you to do things outside of your control a little bit and credit to her she stayed out there and did it."
Meanwhile, Hawthorn coach Daniel Webster said vice-captain Eliza West would have scans after going down to the rooms early in the final term with trainers with what appeared to be a left knee problem.
West had starred for the Hawks up to that point, getting her hands dirty as the leading disposal winner on the ground (31 with 17 contested, 11 tackles), and could only watch on the sidelines with her hands on her head in the final minutes.
“Clearly couldn’t come back on the ground,” Webster said. "It’s a tough one in that sense. Like our leader and obviously had a really good game… Hopefully it's not too bad. We'll obviously scan it and find out."
The Hawks led 19-0 during the first quarter, and Webster characterised the game from there as becoming "a bit of a grind".
“I think it came down to moments in the game and fundamentally they executed better than us,” he said.
“We had some basic skills error that hurt us a bit. The good teams fundamentally will execute better under pressure, and that's making decisions as well as skill execution as well. You know, whether it's kicking, ground balls, handballs, marks, whatever it's going to be, but making good decisions, especially when you're tired and under the pump is challenging. So, you know, that's the thing for us.
“You look at throughout our side, like our midfield, Daisy Flockart's in year two, Laura Stone’s in year three, Hayley McLaughlin’s in year three, they're all still at the early parts of their career. So these experiences are going to help them because then when you're training, you train different when you know what the pressure's like.”
Saturday evening’s loss marks Hawthorn’s third semi-final exit, after winning its first ever final last week against Gold Coast.
Buck, in game 50 as Carlton’s coach, was proud of how his team turned around the early deficit.
“I think you could never question the character of this side,” Buck said.
“Down 19 to zero and kick the last five or seven goals in the game and turn the clearances around from … 17 to seven. I thought we were pretty emphatic in the second half.
“What we knew was, we're a team that will find a way … We knew we could turn them around. We've been tested before, you know, going back to the last home and away game against Brisbane, and what's probably underestimated about our group is how hard we are to play against.
“So we hear a lot of different numbers about our group, but one number I don't hear is our contested possession, post clearance number. We're No.1 in the competition for that. And that's a number that helps you win games.
“So the analysis can be fingernailed deep, but if we have a really deep look, you're going to find a really hard team, a tough team to play against and can't wait to be that next week.”
Buck described Vescio’s 100th game, including a goal to put Carlton in front for the first time in the third quarter and for the final time in the last, as “poetry”, praising their influence off the field for the young side.
“The way Darcy mentors our younger players, and you watch Lily Baxter in a big final in her first few games, play such a pivotal role for us, and execute under high pressure. The mentorship that Darcy gives all of our players, our younger players, is extraordinary and shines through," he said.
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