A STRONG-PERFORMING AFLW team can be a huge boost to the supporters of a club whose men's side is struggling.

As a life-long Carlton fan, presenter and Blues AFLW runner Andy Maher knows just how vital a successful women's team can be to a battling AFL club.

"The women's team, for a North Melbourne supporter, I imagine, is pretty important," Maher told host Darcy Vescio on Cutting Oranges.

"The boys are facing a challenging time in 2021, but if you're a North supporter and you look at your women's team, you go, hang on, we might get this year off to a pretty good start.

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"Likewise, with Carlton, the last two years of being a Carlton supporter, we have been getting more joy out of the women's team than the boys. Hopefully we get loads out of both of them in years to come.

"It's pretty important for a couple of these clubs where the boys aren't going well to have a women's team going pretty well."

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