Carlton pair Chloe Dalton and Brooke Walker on their road from Rio to the AFLW grand final

Two years ago Rio Olympians Chloe Dalton and Brooke Walker were stalking Rafael Nadal for a selfie, but today the pair will be aiming to create history with Carlton in today’s AFLW grand final.

Carlton cross-code stars Brooke Walker and Chloe Dalton. Picture: Alex Coppel

A basketball-playing, Rio gold medallist in rugby and her Kiwi teammate — via badminton and the Gold Coast — walk into an AFL Women’s club.

The punchline?

Well, they’re hoping it comes later today.

Two-and-a-half years ago, Chloe Dalton and Brooke Walker were stalking Rafael Nadal through the Olympic food court in Rio as they hunted a selfie, but today they’ll suit up in navy blue as Carlton looks to defy the odds and win this year’s AFLW premiership.

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It’s a far cry from where Dalton sat in 2014 playing WNBL with the Sydney Flames.

“I was sitting on the bench a lot — I was like the Patty Mills towel-waver,” Dalton laughed.

“I was pretty good — I don’t think I was at Patty’s level, but I was pretty bloody good.

“I wasn’t getting a heap of minutes, and one of my biggest goals since I was a little kid was to win an Olympic gold medal.”

Chloe Dalton burns off an opponent on her way to a try at the Rio Olympics. Picture: AFP

She did just that, learning to tackle by getting her brothers to run at her in the backyard — “I couldn’t move my neck for about a week” — before playing in Australia’s victorious rugby sevens outfit in Rio.

Walker — a member of the Rio squad — was the one who initiated the switch to Australian rules.

“I had been quite interested in the game — I watched the inaugural season quite closely and I was impressed with the skill level of some of the girls,” Walker said.

“I love getting around women in sport, so I just watched it and I thought at the time I’d be keen to have a bit of a challenge and got into contact with Graham (Burgen), who was the previous list manager (at Carlton). I came down and played a season of VFLW and was fortunate enough to sign a rookie contract.”

Brooke Walker and Chloe Dalton have settled in beautifully to life as Blues. Picture: Alex Coppel.

She also put Burgen on to her mate, Dalton, with the pair side by side in the lockeroom and combining beautifully in the Blues’ attack.

“It’s a very hard game to learn and I wish I had played it when I was a kid,” Dalton said.

“Now that I’ve started, I think, ‘This game’s awesome’. I love playing footy now. I do wish I’d started when I was younger, but it’s been a massive challenge.

“It’s having to learn the skills of the game, but also the strategy and where to go and the tactics and the lingo — it took us a while to pick that up, but we’re getting there.

“It’s something I really enjoy doing — just putting yourself out there to do something completely new.”

The arm guard has followed Dalton from rugby sevens to Australian rules, a precautionary measure after a number of breaks.

Walker, 23, could only describe today’s opportunity as “surreal”.

“I was a bit doubtful that I’d even get to play a game,” she admitted.

“So to be in this position — where we can make history for Carlton — is surreal, really.

“I’m very fortunate and thankful that Carlton took the time to invest in us.”