Kangaroos break new ground on the field and in the history books in AFLW flag defence

There's a famous piece of commentary from the inaugural AFLW game back in 2017, where Kelli Underwood announced on the broadcast: "There's the siren. Ground breakers, history makers."

On Saturday night, to open the grand final between North Melbourne and Brisbane on the main TV broadcaster, Underwood talked about the Kangaroos' "history-making streak", which is now 27 consecutive wins.

Ten seasons since the AFLW began, arguably no side has broken more ground for the competition than North Melbourne and Brisbane, at least in recent years, given Adelaide have three premierships as of 2022.

All of that was on show for the Kangaroos as they dominated the Lions with a comprehensive 40-point thrashing at Princes Park under lights.

The victory was a real team effort, with the Best on Ground medal voters the envy of few.

Among a host of contenders, the Kangaroos' Eilish Sheerin came out on top to claim the individual honour, finishing six votes clear of teammate Ash Riddell.

In front of a sold-out crowd of 12,741 — a sea blue and white, and just speckled with maroon — North Melbourne continued to revolutionise the competition.

Not just in the history books — they are now the first AFLW side to go back-to-back — but in how they play footy.

As they closed out their second straight season undefeated, no longer was the talk about 'inspiring the next generation' — it was about momentum, territory dominance, zone defence, pressure and how to stop the almighty Jasmine Garner.

Garner, who kicked the first goal in AFLW history back in 2017, finished with 28 touches and a goal.

It's hard to marry the image of fresh-faced Garner in a Collingwood guernsey in her early 20s with the 31-year-old who lifted North Melbourne's second AFLW cup with coach Darren Crocker.

Her Kangaroos teammate Emma King also played in the inaugural women's game.

By halfway through the final quarter, the Kangaroos' hard work for the year had paid off with a strong lead and they were able to just enjoy being out on the park.

While some women's sides still battle weekly criticism of low scores, fumble footy and dire win-loss ledgers, North Melbourne continue to almost say, "Yeah? Well, watch this", to the naysayers of the competition.

Against Brisbane, the Kangaroos played their team defence, led by eight-time All Australian Emma Kearney and four-time premiership player Libby Birch. 

Newly crowned league best and fairest Riddell, who broke her own record for the most disposals in a game three times this season, had 39 touches.

Jenna Bruton topped the goal-kickers list with three, while Sheerin had two.

What made the win more impressive is that Brisbane are no easy beats. The Lions were playing in their seventh grand final out of a possible nine, with two premierships to show for it.

They came into the grand final having banked nine wins on the trot. Yet many that feared a blowout were proven right.

After 21-year-old Lion Charlotte Mullins kicked the opening goal two minutes into the game, Brisbane didn't score again until seven minutes into the third quarter through Ruby Svarc.

The Lions had set the benchmark for a long time in the AFLW's short history, but were no match in the end for the Kangaroos in 2025.

Earlier in the week, Kearney urged rival clubs to "get to our level” — not just to challenge for the flag in coming years but to further lift the whole competition.

"What we're doing at North Melbourne and Brisbane is setting the standard, and we need the other teams to come up to that standard," Kearney said to a press pack.

"I'm happy being at the top for now. We'll keep trying to get better. It's now up to the other teams to work out how they can get to our level."

After the grand final showing on Saturday night, other sides are going to have no choice but to elevate if they ever want to see a future cup in their cabinet, including Brisbane.