This Carlton rookie wasn’t sure she’d play a game. Now she’s into the finals

5 hours ago 3

An opening goal on debut, a rising star nomination and a long-awaited AFLW elimination final. Is this how Carlton rookie Poppy Scholz envisaged her year?

“Not at all,” Scholz laughed. “I was talking to dad before round one, and I wasn’t sure I was even going to play.”

“I definitely did not think this is how my season was going to go at all,” she continued. “I thought I’d play the whole year in the back line. Didn’t think I was gonna kick a goal. At Glenelg, I only kicked one goal in my three years playing there.

“So I definitely didn’t think it was going to come in round one. It’s been unreal.”

It’s been a sensational year for Scholz and even better season for Carlton, who will head into finals this weekend after a five-year drought.

The Blues secured a coveted top-eight spot last weekend in Perth, after defeating Daisy Pearce’s West Coast in a nail-biting final quarter. Inaugural Blue Darcy Vescio sealed the victory with an extraordinary torpedo after the siren as their teammates piled on top of them in celebration.

“Darcy kicked it and it was just the best-looking kick coming off their boot,” Scholz said. “I could not have been more excited and it was so nice that we all had a point to go to [to celebrate].”

With a permanent smile on her face, Scholz is one of the most exciting young players in the Blues ranks alongside Sophie McKay and Keeley Sherar.

The South Australian spent the majority of her first five games in the back line, before moving forward in the round six clash against reigning premiers North Melbourne.

Scholz kicked her debut goal during the opening round of the AFLW season.

Scholz impressed during the encounter and nabbed a Rising Star nomination, following in the footsteps of her sister and Port Adelaide ruck Matilda.

The 18-year-old said she appreciated constructive criticism and was always seeking ways to get better. She’d like to be a superstitious person, but joked it was “too much effort”.

“I’ve got a certain sports bra that I wear just because I like it and I’ve got a bit of a skills routine that I do with the back line coach and that’s it,” she said.

After every game, Scholz spends time on the phone with her dad, who helps dissect and analyse her and Matilda’s performances.

Does she ever try to offer her big sister some footy advice?

“God no, I do not offer Matilda advice at all,” she laughed. “She gives me a bit of advice, it’s hard because obviously, we play a different position, but she gives me advice on professional habits and stuff like that.”

Carlton started the 2025 season with a bang and won four of their opening five matches. However, a string of losses towards the end of the season put their finals dreams in jeopardy.

Blues defender Maddy Hendrie previously told this masthead the prospect of making finals was the “elephant in the room” at the start of the season. However, after their 13-point loss to St Kilda, the team held an open discussion led by captain Abbie McKay to help ease the pressure.

“I wasn’t thinking about finals until we started losing a few games,” Scholz admitted. “When we lost to St Kilda, that hurt a bit … so to be able to come back and win and solidify ourselves in finals, that was really good.”

Carlton face West Coast again on Saturday at Ikon Park. Was there an advantage to facing a team you just defeated seven days ago?

“We’ve done a lot of work on West Coast, the game they play and their players, so it’s nice to have that fresh in our brains, and then almost top up on it again,” Scholz said.

“I think it’s exciting, because we know we can beat them,” she added. “Last week, it was a bit of a scrappy game and we went to the trenches and won that way.

“So it would be nice to hopefully play the game we want to play and do it in front of our fans.”

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