EVERY player’s journey to the AFL Women’s is unique, and Carlton star Lily Goss is no different.

Goss describes her footy journey thus far as “a pretty strange one”. Having limited opportunities to play the sport growing up because of the lack of teams close to where she grew up in Melbourne’s inner east, Goss did not play her first game until she played for her school in year nine.

After leaving school, she played for three years with Old Scotch in Melbourne’s VAFA competition, before finding her way to Carlton’s VFLW side, then its AFLW side.

Heading into last year’s draft it was more a case of hope than certainty for Goss in terms of being picked up. Having only really spoken to the Blues, Goss realised that if she was going to get picked up the were her best shot, but was content with continuing to play VFLW if things did not work out for her.

The Blues can thank Mimi Hill for getting Goss to the club in the first place.

Goss admitted that although VFLW football “wasn’t necessarily something I was looking for”, she got encouragement from Hill and her family to get in contact with the Blues and things led from one to another from there.

Hill and Goss originally met at school, and although were three year levels apart played one year of school footy together and Goss coached Hill at school footy after graduating year 12.

One thing about Goss’ journey that is not necessarily unique is where her love for the game began.

“I think honestly growing up and watching my brother play,” she said. “It wasn’t really accessible to me very early on, so I would spend most of my weekends just watching my brother play, kick around and just go to his trainings, and then I picked it up at school and from then on I just loved playing whatever little time that I had to play.”

Goss had a pretty simple explanation for why she became a midfielder and forward as opposed to a defender.

“I would say my height had a limiting factor, not going to lie” she said with a giggle. “I think I naturally got put in those positions because I wasn’t tall enough against tall forwards. But I think as you would know in junior football and playing at school, if you are a real go getter and you want that ball, you more often than not get put in positions where that ball is really up for dispute and I always love tackling, I love pressure, I love running, I think that’s what suited me best at that time.”

As with just about any AFLW player, there is more sides to Goss than her exploits on the football field, with Goss busy setting herself up for a life post footy.

“So I’m in my second year of my education degree,” she said. “I did Art straight out of school and then once I kind of found my feet studying after Covid I applied to do a Bachelor of Health and PE, and I love it.”

“I love working with kids. I work at a school part time outside of footy, so I really enjoy working with kids. I’m hoping that over the next two years I’ll graduate and be able to get into working in schools and working with kids and I love working in sport too, so being a part of the teaching environment really helps with that and taking what I know from Carlton into school environments.”