{"id":172589,"date":"2024-09-20T19:53:52","date_gmt":"2024-09-20T09:53:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/?p=172589"},"modified":"2024-09-20T19:53:52","modified_gmt":"2024-09-20T09:53:52","slug":"charlton-ready-to-celebrate-50-game-milestone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/2024\/09\/20\/charlton-ready-to-celebrate-50-game-milestone\/","title":{"rendered":"Charlton ready to celebrate 50-game milestone"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

IN what will be her second game back from a serious foot injury which required off-season surgery, Teah Charlton<\/a> will notch up her 50th AFLW match.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Becoming a fixture in the side since her debut, her injury was the first time she has had a significant stint away from football.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having to be \u2018off legs\u2019 since the surgery before building up to running again, Charlton spoke before Sunday\u2019s game against Essendon about her injury lay-off.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“My injury has been really hard mentally, especially the first few weeks,\u201d Charlton said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI’m a very active person so from always being on my feet to not being able to move around without crutches, [it] was really hard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat was definitely a learning experience on how to find ways to be excited for the days where I got around [by] doing puzzles and doing weird things like that, watching plenty of Netflix but once I got [off] the crutches and the moonboot, I just accelerated from there.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She opened up on the challenge that presented her when it came to running again, one step she was very excited to take.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“[Running] wasn’t as smooth as I’d always pictured it would be like, I thought I’d be straight onto running and it [would feel] amazing,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt didn’t really feel awesome cause it just felt super unnatural but to be able to get back up and running was amazing.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When speaking about her return to football in the game against Hawthorn, Charlton said the anxiety got to her but settled throughout the first quarter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“It was definitely a big relief, it just meant that I can play out a game and hopefully it can just keep building from there,\u201d Charlton continued.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Getting over the nerves was pretty hard for me because I can get quite anxious before games, especially when it means a lot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think I just made sure I went through my routine, I got my massage, did all of my skill activation and stuff like that so just doing the main things that I do before games.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Coming to the Crows in 2020 with their first pick in the draft, Charlton debuted in Round 1, 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When asked about her milestone, she is in disbelief about how quickly the games have tallied up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“It feels very exciting, I feel like it’s actually come around really quickly, but I think I forget how long I’ve been a part of the system so [I’m] very excited,” Charlton said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She then described her favourite highlight, the club\u2019s third premiership win which was her first ever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The obvious [highlight] is the 2022 premiership, that was just the highlight of my career so far,” Charlton said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“[It’s] amazing, also to be alongside some of the greats of the game like Erin Phillips<\/a> and Chelsea Randall<\/a> and all those girls that have won three premierships, to be a part of one with them was amazing.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Charlton, a career in the red, yellow and blue is a dream come true. The Adelaide Crows men\u2019s team was the side she supported growing up and now she plays a pivotal role in the women\u2019s program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I followed [the] Crows, growing up I always followed the men’s team ever since my nanna got me around the boys like Kurt Tippett <\/strong>and Taylor Walker<\/strong>,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey were her favourite two players so I’ve always supported [the] Crows and [I’m] very privileged to be playing for them.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Round 4 matchup against Essendon poses another opportunity to get better at their efficiency in their forward half, something Charlton said they have spoken about during training this week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I think that our main focus lately has been pressure and that’s just what every year [our focus] is, we strive off our pressure game and hopefully we can bring that against the Bombers,\u201d Charlton explained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I think what we have been talking about is just our efficiency going into the forward 50 and really capitalising off of our forward 50 entries, so I think that’s the main focus.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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