How the Kangaroos beat the Lions to claim back-to-back AFLW flags in their perfect season

North Melbourne made history on Saturday evening with its second AFLW premiership, becoming the first club to go back-to-back in the AFLW.

It is also the first club in elite footy history to complete the perfect season.

Last year, the only blemish was a week-two draw with Geelong. This time around, the closest any team came to the Kangaroos was Melbourne's preliminary-final challenge, when the Demons fell short by 10 points.

The strategies in place that have allowed the Kangaroos to win 27 consecutive matches are clear to see — they are so good at executing under pressure that opposition sides struggle to get near them.

That much was evident for Brisbane coach Craig Starcevich following the grand final at Princes Park.

"They (Kangaroos) were really, really good with absorbing pressure," Starcevich said.

"We threw the kitchen sink at them from a pressure point of view, and then they ramped that up again in the second quarter.

"It was like, 'Whoa'. The level just kept going up and up.

"But their ability to get from something that looks like a really nasty, contested situation and then get it quickly out by hand … is elite. Like, seriously elite."

Lions launch early challenge

It was the Lions who got the jump on the game.

Pressure was high, and they were controlling contested situations and landed the first goal of the evening.

But the Kangaroos' defence held up to the task.

Despite winning the inside 50s count 10-7 across the opening term, the Lions struggled to generate space or time in attack and simply could not convert entries into genuine scoring opportunities.

Meanwhile, the Kangaroos were able to sling the ball back down the other end to kick two goals and take a lead into the first break.

Ultimately, it was an indicator of how the game was to play out. Brisbane was winning plenty of territory but was unable to usurp North Melbourne's defensive structures.

While the Kangaroos' back five were crucial to this — organising the line and manipulating the opposition's forward set-up — the work of their wingers and midfielders is what turned everything up a notch.

The spread from the contest back to support the defence was where Brisbane got lost defensively, and its own structures collapsed.

From there, the quick decision-making on the rebound cut the Lions to ribbons. 

The Kangaroos turned from a defensive mindset to attack mode in an instant and Brisbane was simply caught trailing, heading back the other way.

Kangaroos' whack-a-mole approach

Even when the Lions were battling hard in the contest —working to prevent that flick to the outside where the Kangaroos are well-versed in establishing in-game cruise control — holes were still appearing.

As described by Starcevich in Friday's pre-grand final media conference, North Melbourne's approach is like a game of whack-a-mole. Hem in on one issue, and more appear elsewhere.

In the first quarter, the Lions won the contested possession count by two, but the Kangaroos were still dominating clearance (9-5) and uncontested possession (44-27).

All that hard work in tight simply wasn't preventing the Kangaroos from finding that release option. Unfortunately for Brisbane, this is where the game is won or lost against North Melbourne.

As the match evolved, the Kangaroos equalised and got on top in the contested possessions, making that outside game easier and easier to come by.

Best on Ground medallist Eilish Sheerin, AFLW best and fairest winner Ash Riddell, and Kangaroos captain Jasmine Garner were leaders in this respect.

Brisbane's midfield simply could not go with them.

When that contest is lost, the natural reaction for those in the arcs is to attempt to support via numbers. 

This is where the Kangaroos absolutely thrive — the backline maintains its length behind the ball, ready to intercept, and the forward line uses its speed to outnumber and force disorganisation from the opposition.

This became increasingly evident throughout the grand final.

As things became more dire, more Lions tried to fix the problem areas and that left them wanting in attack when they did go forward.

Roos' accuracy compounds matters

The Kangaroos ultimately won the game by 40 points, the second-greatest margin in an AFLW grand final.

They kicked the second-highest grand final score, but it did so with searing accuracy in front of the big sticks.

The Kangaroos failed to register a minor score until the final quarter and their only two blemishes on the scoreboard were rushed behinds.

They are a team that takes care of the football, using it at a record 67.6 per cent disposal efficiency across the season and kicking at 51 per cent accuracy for goals.

It was simply the boot that was dug in at the end of the chain and pure evidence of the club's elite fundamentals at play.

They say better the devil you know. But Brisbane knew the devil that is North Melbourne and it did not matter.

Instead, the Kangaroos did exactly what they have been doing to teams for the last two years — win the contest, control on the outside, set up defence and sling into attack.

The Lions knew exactly what they were coming up against and were still helpless to stop it.

Being etched into the history books as the AFLW's first back-to-back premier and completing the first perfect season is just reward for North Melbourne's boundary-pushing program.