Carlton AFLW senior coach Daniel Harford knows that despite his side’s devastating loss to the Adelaide Crows on Sunday, they’re on the right track for a comeback in AFLW season 3.

In a turn of events, the Crows stormed home victors by 13 points against an inexperienced Blues side, who had dominated up until mid-way through the third quarter.

But the Baggers have a lot to be proud of, stepping up from the heartbreak of last week and last season and giving their fans something to be excited for on the hallowed Princes Park turf they call home.

It’s a constantly improving game of AFLW; each season, each week proving tougher than the last and each player’s ability on the upward trajectory.

And after struggling to keep up in season 2018 and stumbling just last week, the Carlton faithful should be proud of the way their side presented in round 2 of the eight-week competition.

“We were so much better than last week, so if that linear progression keeps going we’ll be okay,” said Harford.

And the Head Coach is right. It was night and day from last week. The Blues were free flowing, utilised the corridor and contested the ball for a strong first half of footy.

But the young legs of the Baggers tired quickly and despite the promising start, Adelaide worked out the fast pace and high-contested style the Blues were utilising.

The Crows then took complete control and booted seven goals to one in the second half.

“We lost our way through the middle for a bit and that opened up a few opportunities for them to go into their forward half,” Harford said.

“We ran out of gas and even though that happened, we still rallied and tried to get ourselves back in the game”

Madison Prespakis was the big shining light out of the Blues’ unfortunate loss however, with Harford noting that her performance is one that will spark and inspire future Women Footballers as well in the expansion of the competition.

“Maddy’s a terrific kid. She’s a great competitor and she’s a class footballer. She wants to be a great player,” he said.

“The next generation of players will be similar to Madison. You’ll see that level of player come through the ranks.”

Yet it wasn’t just Prespakis who was a trooper for the Baggers. It was every player who pushed until the end and every member, kid or adult, who hoped and wished until that final siren.

Although the result didn’t go their way, the Blues have a lot to look forward to in their near future. They’ll just need to string together four quarters, keep up their intensity and continue to be hungry for a hard contest.

The hunger is in their eyes and it shows in their game style too; one they’ll continue to amend until their game is perfect for 120 minutes.

“I think we were the better team for two and a half quarters, but you’ve got to be a four-quarter team,” Harford said.

And the crowd never gave up either. All of them, hanging onto every ball, every kick and every one percenter.

The ghosts of Princes Park are among them, too. The women of today uphold the spirit of the yesteryears in a respectable yet ground breaking manner and they share it with the believers who still choose to stick around.

In front of 3150 believers, the Blues took steps forward. Even when the result didn’t go their way, they made sure to cheer a little louder, scream a little harder and stick around to celebrate the women who inspire them every week.

And as their banner read as the girls strode through, they truly did and will continue to improve, all in order to ‘honour the past and own the future’.