North Melbourne Kangaroos rally around injured Mia King after AFLW grand final
Mia King (centre) said she was "so proud" of her teammates. (AP: James Ross)
In short:
Mia King was embraced by her North Melbourne teammates after she missed their AFLW grand final triumph through injury.
Coach Darren Crocker said leaving her out of the game was one of the hardest decisions he has made in football, telling her after the game she was "a big part" of their premiership defence.
Another injured Kangaroo, Nicole Bresnehan, presented the premiership cup to captain Jasmine Garner and Crocker.
Mia King was the hard-luck story of the AFLW grand final.
Coach Darren Crocker said before the game she could not have done much more to put herself in a position to be selected after missing every game since round nine with a knee injury.
Ultimately he felt it was "too big a risk" to pick her after 50 days without playing a game, saying it was "one of the harder conversations I've ever had to have in football".
King watched from the sidelines on Saturday night as her teammates claimed an historic second straight AFL Women's premiership.
The thumping 40-point win over the Lions, their opponents in the previous two deciders, would have surely come with a tinge of pain for the 24-year-old midfielder.
But her teammates made sure she did not miss a moment of the celebrations.
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Teammate Bella Eddey praised King for the way she carried herself leading up to the game.
"The way you've handled yourself this week has been so admirable," she told her.
Crocker told her she was "a big part of" their journey to another flag, and Emma King, towering over her namesake, wrapped her in a long embrace and kissed her on the cheek.
Emma and Mia King had a long embrace on the Princes Park turf. (Getty Images: Michael Willson/AFL Photos)
"Love you so much. Couldn't have got there without you," she said as Mia told her how proud she was of them.
She was not the only sidelined Roo on the night.
Nicole Bresnehan injured her hamstring in round one and was nearing a mid-season return when she tore her ACL at training, ruling her out of the rest of the season.
The 2024 premiership Roo was given the honour of presenting the cup to Garner and Crocker.
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She tried to sneak off the stage after handing it over, but the cries came from the playing group: "Get in there, Nicole."
The defender sheepishly posed with them for the lifting of the cup and was caught in hugs by a few more teammates as they rushed the stage, before making herself scarce as the confetti flew to end another undefeated season for the dominant side.