New Blue Yasmin Duursma has been blown away by the integration at her new club, in comparison to her former side Port Adelaide.
Duursma requested a trade back to her home state of Victoria in the AFLW’s recent trade period and eventually landed at Carlton, despite heavy interest from clubs such as North Melbourne and Essendon, who are coincidentally now home to her brothers Zane and Xavier.
The 19-year-old said that it was difficult to leave the Power, who took her with pick 45 in the 2022 draft, but in the end family was a big factor in her decision.
“It was pretty difficult, because I loved all the girls and I made some really great friendships,” she told SEN Mornings.
“I loved Adelaide too, it’s a great place to live.”
“But in the end, family trumps everything else, so it just came down to me wanting to be with my brothers and mum and dad and being around friends and family that I grew up with.”
Duursma said that she has been very impressed by the mixture between the women’s and men’s football programs at Carlton, particularly in comparison to what she experienced at Alberton.
“At Carlton, I’ve been incredibly impressed,” she said.
“Having ‘Vossy’ (Blues men’ coach Michael Voss) pop in and even when I was touring the facilities, (he) dropped in for a chat and said hi, which makes me have so much respect for the club.
“At Port, they’re just starting, like the AFLW program came in two seasons ago. So they’re going well for where they are now, but they’ve got a little way to go and I think Carlton are really a club to look up to in the way that they integrate both the women’s and men’s side.”
Duursma will officially begin her career at the Blues when they kick off their preseason early next year.