Feb 2nd, 2020

Feb 2nd, 2020

Darcy Vescio is one of my four-year-old's heroes but it's my own nerves getting the better of me, while I wait for her to arrive for our interview. Thankfully, the Carlton marquee player and leading goalkicker (along with Tayla Harris, whose statue now stands in Federation Square) absolutely does not disappoint.

Vescio is small but muscular, with a broad grin that makes you feel like you've won a prize when it appears. She's been playing footy since age give, it was her first sport. She followed her brother into the game and competed until age fourteen when boys and girls were no longer able to play against one another. At the time, there was no further competition available for the girls.

Darcy Vescio is greeted by fans on the boundary. (Getty)

On Tuesday next week Vesico, 26, will take a seat on a panel, alongside other greats such as Australian Cricket Captain Meg Lanning as part of the build up to breaking the ICC T20 World Cup attendance record at the MCG on March 8.

Vescio who shot to social media fame and displayed strong leadership skills during pay negotiations last year acknowledges a lot has changed since she began in the sport.

"I used go out to schools - before AFLW was a thing – and have to convince the kids that I was a footballer," Vescio tells me. "Now it's different. They have your player's card. They have been to the games and are really excited to see you".

"Some of the girls talk about it being a dream come true but for me it was never a dream. I grew up thinking I would play footy for a bit and then be done, and you go on to do whatever as a job.

"I haven't built my whole life towards being part of this because I didn't know it would exist. I didn't know there would necessarily ever be something to be part of."

Vescio made her debut in the very first game of the AFLW, in 2017, when Carlton took on Collingwood at IKON Park. The popularity of that non-ticketed match was completely underestimated by organisers.

Carlton have played a historic part in the AFLW. (Getty)

It was a lock out, with hundreds of people left standing outside the gates unable to get in. Vescio kicked a game-high four goals.

"Looking at photos from when I was first drafted to Carlton, I look very different. I looked like a little baby back then," she laughs.

"The mental switch that came [with a professional league] is that there are expectations now. As soon as the AFL announced that the league was coming, there were academies formed where girls could train. I learned what my body could do. I learned intensity and intent."

Vescio even had to learn how to use a gym.

"Five years ago, I had never set foot in a gym and had none of that physical conditioning you need to play at a high level. I thought gyms were for people who wanted to go to Stereosonic and get jacked!

"But it's important because it's a very physical sport. I think sometimes people are shocked because they've only seen men doing it before, so they think men are the only ones capable of doing it."

The physicality of the sport is what Vescio loves. She's clearly confused and maybe a little frustrated by sexist assumptions that the rough and tumble of AFL would put women off.

"It's part of why I was drawn to the sport growing up because I could be physical," she says matter-of-factly.

"Being powerful was celebrated at footy and you actually get to learn the power of your own body and how much it can bounce back from things."

Vescio admits that the season itself is utterly exhausting. The AFLW plays a short season, which means it's big, brave and ballsy – but time limited. That leaves the players with a long time to be training and preparing, focusing on the season ahead.

The result? This game comes with a mental challenge that easily matches and probably exceeds, the physical one.

"In the past I've probably never really felt mental health issues, I guess. It's always been something that I've been aware of but never really had to think about myself," Vescio tells me.

She's spoken publicly and proudly about the importance of mental health support for players – and also the general community.

Harris' Carlton into AFLW grand final

"This season I started seeing a psychologist, just to check in. It wasn't necessarily about anything that had happened, but I was starting to really feel the mounting pressure," she explains.

A worthy role model for women and men alike, Vescio is humble about her relatively newfound status as a sports star.

"It's sort of the way other people see you and not necessarily how you'd brand yourself," she says. "I'm a footballer".

For tickets to see Darcy Vesico, Meg Lanning and Ellia Green go to futurewomen.com