No AFLW team has produced a more impressive home and away season than this year’s North Melbourne, who secured the minor premiership with a 63-point demolition of Gold Coast at Arden Street Oval on Saturday evening.
In what ended up as a glorified training run ahead of the start of the finals next week, the Kangaroos outclassed the 17th-placed Suns to finish unbeaten in 11 games, ending with a percentage of 315% and recording key victories over fellow flag contenders Brisbane and Adelaide.
The Kangaroos have conceded the fewest points in the competition in both of the past two seasons, but in 2024 they have also become the team that has scored the most. It has been part of a successful reconfiguration by coach Darren Crocker and staff over the past 12 months.
“We’ve been renowned for our team defence, and being a pretty stingy defence but what we’ve worked on and been able to do is put layers on our game,” Crocker said, referencing their ability to exit congestion and ball movement off turnovers. “It’s really pleasing as a coach to be able to stand here and say some of the things that we tweaked and we implemented have been able to come to fruition.”
Suns coach Cameron Joyce said North Melbourne have built a strong list, but they also deliver on the park.
“They’re clearly the best-drilled defensive team in the competition by far, but they’re the most organised, they’re the most sophisticated,” Joyce said. “They’re very defensive, and now they’ve opened up and become more attacking this year, so I think they’re just really well-rounded.”
Only twice before has a team finished the AFLW regular season unbeaten, but neither team ended up winning the premiership. In 2017, Brisbane were defeated by Adelaide in the grand final, and in 2020 Fremantle’s unbeaten run was prematurely ended midway through the finals series by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Amy Lavell, who played two seasons for Fremantle before coaching for four – including as the forwards coach for the Dockers’ unbeaten run in 2020 – said the Kangaroos are becoming one of the AFLW’s best ever teams, and this year have managed to do what many others can’t.
“The most exciting thing about the Kangaroos is that they score. For a long time, even since the start of AFLW, there hasn’t been a high amount of scoring,” Lavell said. “North Melbourne seem to have always had that game plan where they are able to put a decent score on the board, and they’re an accurate team.”
Busy Ash Riddell and powerful Jasmine Garner have proven themselves as the best midfield duo in the competition, and Mia King has emerged as another fierce ball winner. Garner’s effectiveness going forward has been complemented by sharp forward play from the likes of Kate Shierlaw, Alice O’Loughlin and Tahlia Randall, who have all reached double figures for goals.
Garner said off-season work is bearing fruit. “In the pre-season, we really wanted to improve on our ball movement, and I guess give our forwards the best opportunity and not have to rely on anyone, and a lot of different players can hit the scoreboard.”
Yet she feels the team has room to improve. “It’s been a great home and away season, obviously winning, but we review games heavily and sometimes you can win, but it’s still not perfect.”
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The Kangaroos are the first team to finish with a percentage of more than 300% in the nine-season history of the competition.
Lavell said the club has developed depth in its list around a core of key players, and has now established itself as one of the competition’s pre-eminent clubs alongside three-time premiers Adelaide and two-timers Brisbane.
But she said until the Roos won a flag, they still had something to prove. “I don’t know if they can be called the best team yet, because they’ve stumbled at the finish line a couple of times.” The Kangaroos lost last season’s grand final to Brisbane despite leading heading into the final term.
Crocker said the past 11 matches will count for little in the “new season” of the finals. “It gives you a good indication of where you’re at, where you actually end up finishing on the grid,” he said. “Now a totally new season begins in the finals, we’ll lean into it, we’ll look to enjoy it as much we possibly can.”
Next week North Melbourne will host fourth-place in the first round, which will almost certainly be Adelaide, in a likely match on Friday at Ikon Park. Defending premiers Brisbane and Hawthorn make up the other teams to finish in the top four.
Kangaroos captain Emma Kearney is expected back from a hamstring injury in the “first or second week of finals”, according to Crocker. But either way, the Roos will be well-placed against the Crows, after they went to Adelaide and won in round nine.
“There’s been a lot of firsts this season,” Garner said. “First time we beat Brisbane, first time we beat Adelaide away, and first time with the minor premiership as well. It’s been a great one, we take a lot of confidence from it, but a big thing for us is, we know this bit’s done, and we still got a long way to go.”
