The only issue Carlton AFLW captain Brianna Davey has with new coach Daniel Harford is the obsession with his calves.
It is a sign of how smoothly the pre-season has gone for last year’s wooden spooners that when Davey was asked if the cheerful Harford has a coaching mean streak, she referred to his lower-limb narcissism instead.
“So far we’ve seen a lot of cheerful Daniel Harford,” Davey said.
“He loves his calves. He thinks he has probably the best calves out of all the AFLW coaches.
“He has his shorts, he wears these three-quarter tights – the calves are out.”
Harford cheerfully pleaded guilty when told that his captain had dropped him in it.
He admitted he had heard all the rumours of discontent last year as the Blues slumped to the bottom of the ladder, so it was a pleasant surprise when he took over.
“I expected to walk in and find a really disjointed, broken group,” he said.
“The most pleasing part of my experience so far is it’s been nothing like that – the group has been really united.
“That’s been a real foundation for me to build on. If you have a buy-in from a group that’s together, I reckon you’re halfway there. “
The volatile nature of the AFLW means that despite last year’s disappointment, the Blues are thinking “why not us?” in regard to the title.
They look enviously at the Western Bulldogs, who were sixth in 2017 and start season three as reigning premiers.
“It can flip on its head from season to season,” Davey said.
The Blues will open their season on Sunday in Hobart against North Melbourne, who join Geelong as this year’s expansion clubs.
It looms as a tough baptism of fire for the Blues, given North have recruited heavily and are premiership fancies.
But Davey’s return from a knee reconstruction is a major boost.
“She is a real spiritual leader of the team,” Harford said.
“She has a real aura about her, as a person as well as a footballer.”
But returning to the original question – does the affable Harford possess a good coaching rant?
“When he gets down to business, we know about it and he’s really serious about his footy,” Davey said.