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Carlton AFLW star Darcy Vescio says teammate Tayla Harris is coping well after being called "useless" in the Blues' loss to Collingwood on Sunday.
Online trolling against Carlton AFLW star Tayla Harris has ramped up following harsh comments directed at her by Collingwood's Stacey Livingstone.
The Magpies defender had the better of their duel in a 15-point win over the Blues on Sunday, restricting Harris to one goal.
When asked about her match-up with the Carlton forward after the game, Livingstone told Channel Seven: "You've just got to stop her in the air. That's her game and if you can do that, she's useless."
Harris' Blues teammate Darcy Vescio said Harris was coping "super" with again being in the spotlight.
The 22-year-old has dealt with online abuse throughout her sporting career, most infamously when a photo of her - now dubbed 'The Kick' - became a viral sensation.
The photo by Michael Willson received sexist comments on social media - with Channel Seven criticised for deleting their post of the photo.
But a defiant Harris then posted the photo on her own account, receiving support from all walks of life around Australia.
"We've all sort of checked in on her and made sure that she is alright," Vescio told reporters on Wednesday.
"I think the hardest thing out of that is that she is subject to more trolling, but I don't know if you've seen the statue but she's gotten a lot worse than 'useless' before.
"Anything that involves Tay is going to create a story. She's a really big player in the game and she's got a huge platform."
But Vescio's teammates have seen the funny side out of the situation.
On Monday, Harris posted a photo of a lion to social media, with the accompanying words: "A lion never loses sleep over the opinions of sheep".
"The lion is doing very well," Vescio said of Harris.
"I think we all sort of had a laugh out of what happened over the weekend; I think Stacey's teammates would have had a laugh, too.
"I thought I wouldn't want to be in Stacey's shoes like a little slip-up like that but overall I think it's pretty harmless."
