Tara Murray
Western Bulldogs’ Victorian Football League women’s captain Dom Carbone was left in shock after claiming the league’s highest honour.
Carbone topped the count in the Lambert-Pearce Medal at Monday’s awards night, becoming the first Bulldogs player to win the award.
She finished on 17 votes, three clear of Essendon skipper El Chaston and Box Hill Hawks captain Tamara Luke.
Darwin-born Carbone averaged 18.4 disposals, 5.1 tackles and 4.4 clearances during the regular season and featured in the umpires’ votes in eight matches.
Carbone said it was a massive honour to claim the medal after helping guide her side to the grand final.
“I can tell you right now, up until the last vote count that I still believed that somebody could get four votes in the last vote,” she said.
“I wasn’t expecting to get up there just as purely as the calibre of competition this year. It was so great.
“I think that’s a massive credit to women’s footy in the way that it’s kind of leading at the moment.
“It’s a massive achievement and I really hope the competition keeps growing because it’s only making more people want to watch and more people want to come and be a part of the sport and it’s just growing and something that we should be really proud of.”
Carbone joined the Bulldogs in 2023 and won the club’s best and fairest in her first season at the club.
She also featured as a top up player for the Bulldogs AFLW side. Carbone was also part of Hawthorn’s first AFLW squad having made the move down from the Northern Territory.
She said she was grateful for all the support she’d had this year as she stepped into the captaincy role at the Bulldogs.
“It’s a year of growth coming from me,” she said. “I’m just extremely grateful for the experience and also the support that I’ve had from the club.
“Also my family and those leaders around me away from the club have really stepped up and helped me along the way.”
Carbone said getting back into the AFLW was always a dream but for her she just wants to be the best version of herself and enjoy her football.”
It was a night for the Bulldogs, with Keeley Hardingham winning the Debbie Lee Medal as the VFLW Rising Star.
Both Carbone and Hardingham were named in the team of the year along with teammate Jaimi Tabb and Williamstown’s Lori Stepnell, Sharnie Whiting and Eliza Straford.
Straford was named captain of the team of the year.
It was also a night for the Dom’s with Werribee’s Dom Brew winning the J.J Liston Medal as the best player in the VFL. Bulldogs Riley Garcia finished in the top 10.
Williamstown’s Luke Parks was named in the team of the year.
