AFLW 2024: How sauna sessions helped Carlton beat Gold Coast
A novel approach tested Carlton’s AFLW players but paid off during a round 2 thriller in Mackay.
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Carlton players felt “hollow” after a heavy round 1 defeat, but the Blues are brimming with belief this week after heat training helped deliver their first premiership points of the season.
A clash against Geelong at Ikon Park on Saturday will give the Blues a better read of where they sit in the AFLW pecking order, but milestone defender Harriet Cordner said the one-point victory they snatched in Mackay against Gold Coast had galvanised the group.
Cordner, who will bring up her 50th league game against the Cats, said the upset win had been “massive”.
“We were pretty flat after the Hawthorn game … we lost, but we also felt like we didn’t play our brand of football, which is disappointing and leaves you feeling pretty hollow,” Cordner said.
“We went to Brisbane and then had to fly to Mackay, it was a great opportunity for the group to reconnect and to come away with a one-point win, it was massive.”
Carlton ruck Jess Good and forward Maddy Guerin, who kicked the matchwinning goal decided by the new microchip technology, said a strict sauna regimen had paid off on a 25C day.
“It’s huge for our group, it helps with that belief and makes all the heat acclimation that we did throughout the last couple of weeks worthwhile … a lot of sauna time, my goodness,” Good said.
“We started with little small bursts in the sauna after training, and then we had to build up to like 20, 30 minutes in there, so I think it did help us because that last quarter we were still running out pretty strong,” Guerin said.
For Cordner, the granddaughter of Melbourne Brownlow medallist Don Cordner, her path to 50 games was a cause for reflection after crossing from the round-ball game to be a foundation player for the Demons.
She said she was thriving under Mathew Buck’s defensive system after joining Carlton at the same time as the senior coach ahead of 2023.
“Since Bucky started coaching, he’s really big on system defence, and that’s probably something that was new to me but something that I’ve really enjoyed,” she said.
“It’s not just that old-school one-on-one, just defend your player and not worry about anyone else, which can feel pretty isolating sometimes.
“It’s the real connectedness between the group and moving across the ground as a unit, which I really enjoy.”
A primary school teacher, Cordner has been instrumental in the rollout of the Blues’ Carlton Respects program, which promotes gender equality in the early prevention of violence against women.
The defender featured in a video with Marc Pittonet earlier in the men’s season that the Blues said had the highest reach of any video the club had published without football highlights.
The campaign will again be put in the spotlight with a dedicated match on Saturday.
“You want to be involved in a club in more ways than just being a player, and I’m lucky this is a program that I feel really passionate about and believe in what it’s doing,” Cordner said.
Originally published as AFLW 2024: How sauna sessions helped Carlton beat Gold Coast
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