Klingbeil

Honours

Winner 2022 VFLW Best and Fairest - 100 Votes

Klingbeil’s commitment pays off

Millie Kingbeil has been a shining light in Carlton's VFLW program.

By Benjamin Hann

Mar 16, 2022, 5:10 pm

IT HAS been a tough start to the season for Carlton, who have only won one of their fives games heading into the bye this week. 

The Blues have played strong football, with results often not reflecting some of Carlton’s performances.

This is especially true for Millie Klingbeil, who has had a stellar start to her 2022 campaign.

While her performance last week was not her best by her own admission, Klingbeil has been a shining light for the Blues so far, averaging around 18 disposals, five tackles and five clearances per game.

Klingbeil said her great start has had a lot to do with the work she’s put in with coach and Carlton premiership player Ian Aitken, who has helped her over the past 10 months.

“He’s been really important in how my footy has changed because we’ve been meeting every week and going through more technical areas of my skills, but also stuff like thinking about leading patterns,” she said.

“He’s been really influential in how that’s changed my footy, because last season I was getting a lot of games, but I wasn’t having a massive amount of impact on games.”

Another reason Klingbeil has seen such an improvement in her form is her motivation to be drafted for the AFLW, with the next season now only around the corner.

“With the expansion happening at the end of the year, I’d love to put myself in the best possible position when draft day does come around to be selected,” she said.

“If I was to get drafted, I’m feeling confident that my fitness would mean I would be able to roll straight from a VFL season into an AFL season.”

Those who haven’t seen Klingbeil play before this season would be forgiven for thinking that she has always been a class above when she plays, however the truth of the matter is that Klingbeil was a late comer to football, making her meteoric rise all the more staggering.

Klingbeil was always a lover of sport growing up, with school quite often taking a back seat to ensure her passion was the focus.

However, she only started to play football in her final year of high school back in 2016, after she saw her friend playing, realising then how fun the sport was.

Klingbeil ready to tackle semi-finals

Millie Klingbeil is set for a big finals series.

By Angelique Ross, LaTrobe University

Jul 14, 2023,

Amelia Klingbeil showcased her exceptional skills during the Blue's inaugural final on Sunday, leaving no doubt about her performance. She proved to be an unstoppable force on the field, with an impressive tally of 23 disposals coupled with 4 tackles.

The feeling surrounding the Blue’s win was electric - after two losses to Williamstown throughout the season losing by 35 and 38 points - Klingbeil knew how special a win would be against such a decorated team.

“It was like one of the best feelings ever,” Klingbeil said.  

“It was a pretty special moment, I think there was a lot of hype coming into the game, everyone was pretty nervous when we found out that we were playing Williamstown because they'd beaten us twice this season.” 

Klingbeil spoke about the change in the team’s mindset and how the team wanted to ensure they take a more positive approach against the Seagulls.

“We did a lot of work on mindset throughout the week and it was a pretty tough game,” she said. 

“To hear that siren finally go, we were pretty ecstatic and to have everyone around.”

Watch some of the highlights from the elimination final win over Williamstown.

Matching Willimastown’s aggression was important to keep Carlton in the game – keeping her team motivated and making sure to bring a bit of grit to the side was one of the roles Klingbeil played on the field. 

“The last few times I played Williamstown, they got under my skin a bit with their aggression, so I was bringing my confidence on the day because that's a really important part of how I play my game,” she said.

Trailing by a small margin of four points at half time, Klingbeil spoke on the vibe in the change-room and the determination to remain positive going into the next half of footy. 

“At the end of the first we were feeling a bit nervous cause they'd gotten that goal and a few points, but halftime, we thought whilst we were still down, the momentum was shifting a bit,” she said. 

Throughout the week, the Blues will review Sunday’s game and pick points of improvement and what went well as they go into their clash with Port Melbourne at ETU Stadium. Looking at keeping high energy and repeating their efforts for a consecutive week is a focus for Carlton and Klingbeil believes it is anyone’s game to win.

Watch all the goals from the Round 14 win over Darebin.

“The last few weeks we've just been focusing a lot on our game, trying to keep our DNA and how we play our footy and how we best execute our skills,” she said. 

“It'll be a lot of hashing over our skills and strengths and how we're gonna bring that together as a team.”

Having been in the VFLW system for four seasons, Klingbeil wants to focus on driving her team to success and working strongly as a whole unit.

“We've got a few well-being things that we try and do throughout the week – we've got a nice photo board in there that just shows all the positive photos and helps with our unity.”

“Last week I put together a little video little playlist of all different players and all their highlights reels.”

In order to advance to the next round of finals, Carlton must secure a victory against Port Melbourne in Sunday's semi-final. With Klingbeil's undeniable talent and leadership, she is sure to help the team perform at their best.