ISLA Baldwin had a top-age season curtailed by injury, but it did not stop the over-ager from chasing her AFLW dream. She opted to play both VFLW and Talent League Girls, finishing equal second in Carlton’s VFLW Best and Fairest and has firmly put herself back in the AFLW Draft frame.

That decision to play both for the Eastern Ranges and Blues was made far easier thanks to the support from both sets of coaching groups.

“The first game of the season in 2023, I did my shoulder, so had to have a reco which wasn’t very planned and wasn’t very convenient,” Baldwin said. “Eastern let me know I’d be able to come back as a 19-year-old, so that’s definitely I still wanted to do, I felt my time wasn’t finished there, I still wanted to be able to prove myself at that level.

“But I also wanted to be able to balance that with playing at a different standard and playing at VFL so I was lucky enough ‘Burto’ (Matthew Burton) reached out to me from Carlton and said they were interested in having me down, so went down for the preseason and trained there.”

Right from the get-go it was an unforgettable experience for Baldwin who made the decision to remain in the navy blue, while still taking her opportunities with Eastern.

“Really loved it, really loved the environment, loved the girls it was such a great team culture,” Baldwin said. “I’m just really fortunate that both coaches at Eastern and Carlton allowed me to balance that, and then obviously Jarrod (Donders) at Eastern welcomed me back into the team once the VFL season had finished to play some more games at Eastern at the end of the season.”

Baldwin’s first exposure to women’s football started at primary school, but she quickly moved through the ranks and ended up playing for Doncaster and then Yarra Old Cobras before finding her way into the Ranges program at the end of the 2021 season. She made the Futures squad then went into the senior side before her shoulder injury put her draft ambitions on ice.

“I just wanted to play as many games as I could, play some consistent footy which got cut quite short with an injury, but I loved my time at Ranges, loved the people there, the teammates I’ve met, friends for life,” Baldwin said. “I think I really just fell in love with footy all over again being able to play there.

Considering her strength, contested work and clean hands are among her best attributes, it is little surprise that the over-ager was able to adapt so well to senior football while still impacting against her peers. She described the key difference between the Coates Talent League and VFLW as the “size of the girls”.

“In VFL it’s obviously open age so much more mature bodies,” Baldwin said. “Which I think is something I can match, so that’s definitely something that’s been good to learn, compared to Eastern Under 18s, it’s very different in size. “I think also the skills are rather similar, and the speed of the game I think obviously as you get older, people are fitter, people are stronger. It tends to be a little bit quicker in the VFL, but they’re much similar.”

Baldwin made herself at home in the navy blue, finishing equal second in the best and fairest behind Eliza Wood. It was an achievement that “shocked” the teenager, with Baldwin describing it as a “real honour” and was “really grateful” to have been recognised.

Following that success, Baldwin has firmly set herself some goals to achieve over the off-season with the number one still to land on an AFLW list.

“I think obviously you think about the draft,” she said. “Whatever happens with that happens, but then looking forward, I just want to get my rehab right for my foot, just get as fit as I can during the off-season, stronger, better, work on my fundamentals and just again play some consistent footy next year wherever that may be really.”

Looking up to the likes of Geelong’s Nina Morrison and Brisbane’s Isabel Dawes, Baldwin said playing alongside them in the AFLW would mean “everything” to her.

“You just dream of that as a little kid and it’s something that I’ve wanted for so long, so to be able to have that would be amazing. “That’s the dream.”

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