IT WAS this time last year when Brooke Walker was approached by Carlton's then-AFL Women's list manager Graham Burgen.
A rugby sevens star, she had been representing the national side for a few years but wasn't playing as many minutes as she'd like.
"I was looking for a little bit of a change, so I thought, 'Why not?'. I gave it a crack and here I am," Walker told womens.afl.
The 23-year-old was a keen observer of the inaugural AFLW season.
"I was quite impressed with the skill and thought I'd really love to challenge myself. I've never looked back," Walker said.
She joined the Blues for the VFLW season last year and a promising campaign, largely spent on a wing, saw the Blues sign her as a rookie last August.
There was definitely plenty for her to learn along the way, though.
"The first time I touched the ball I completely forgot to bounce it. I just took off running and got called up," Walker said.
"I was pretty embarrassed, to say the least."
It's fair to say she's improved since then. Last weekend, Walker booted two goals in the third term to help Carlton break away from Brisbane and put itself in position for a preliminary final spot.
The Blues sit on top of Conference B with one game to play – against the Western Bulldogs on Sunday at Whitten Oval.
They're very likely to be playing next weekend, but they could miss out if they lose to the Bulldogs and Brisbane makes up the 28.3 per cent difference between the two sides by defeating Collingwood handily.
It's been a relatively successful season for Carlton, which won for the first time in 373 days in round three, against Greater Western Sydney.
"It was a testament of the character of the girls to go through what was such a tumultuous time last season to now being in the conversation as a potential finals contender. To me that showed a lot of resilience within the playing group," Walker said.
Walker is enjoying her new code, but it seems she's keeping her options open.
"For the time being, I'm pretty satisfied with footy and how we're going," she said.
