Ash Riddell celebrates a goal during the AFLW R10 match between North Melbourne and Adelaide at Arden Street Oval on October 18, 2025. Picture: AFL Photos

I DON’T know about you, but North Melbourne’s feeling 22.

The Roos made it 22 consecutive wins with a tone-setting 40-point dominance of finals aspirant Adelaide, controlling all four quarters with ease in the 10.11 (71) to 5.1 (31) victory at a heaving Arden Street Oval, with a record AFLW crowd of 3,282 set for the ground.

KANGAROOS v CROWS Full match coverage and stats

The victory means they are just one game away from equalling the most consecutive wins in VFL/AFL or AFLW history set by Geelong in 1952-1953.

In junior sport, there’s the occasional training session where a scratch match is played between two different age groups, the seniors usually walloping their younger clubmates.

This clash – despite being between first and fifth – resembled such a battle.

North Melbourne rattled off five first-quarter goals to put paid to any idea of a contest, recording 40 more disposals in just one term in the process.

Adelaide managed to stem the bleeding somewhat in the second term, but was helped mightily by the Roos’ somewhat baffling inaccuracy in fairly calm conditions, with the home side kicking 0.7.

The continued absence of Chelsea Randall (concussion) and Caitlin Gould (wrist) didn’t help Adelaide’s scoring woes, and their marking prowess was missed across half-forward, but the ball simply didn’t get inside its forward 50 with any real purpose.

The Crows finally recorded their first point with a rushed behind late in the second quarter, before Teah Charlton took advantage of a holding free kick in front of goal to open the third term with a major.

North Melbourne’s appetite for the contest was extraordinary, brushing aside opponents with ease – much in the same way Adelaide used to in the early seasons of the AFLW – and creating overlap run, with Erika O’Shea and Emma Kearney particularly damaging off half-back.

The Roos were very disciplined when Adelaide did manage to win the footy, forming a stiff zone that panicked the Crows, who were unable to move the ball with any fluency or accuracy.

“The majority of the day, we were comprehensively outplayed, but certainly the first quarter was where a significant amount of damage was done,” Adelaide coach Matthew Clarke said.

 

“From there on, it felt we fought, and stuck at the task with trying to stay in the game, but ultimately we were pretty well outclassed.”

 

Eloise Jones managed three final-quarter goals, but that merely brought the margin back in to 37, before the Roos dabbed the accelerator again.

“Putting the coach’s hat on, to let them kick four straight in the last quarter was a little bit disappointing, but I can understand when you’ve got the game locked away at three-quarter time – it was quite hot out there, and it did appear to be quite an up-and-back game, so a little bit of fatigue sets in, a bit of concentration (lost),” North Melbourne coach Darren Crocker said.

“But to be able to set the game up so well in the first quarter, and then through the middle stages, still control parts of the game, was really pleasing.”

With Mia King (knee) set to face a handful of games on the sidelines, Bella Eddey spent more time on the ball, while Jas Garner was simply superb throughout, coming in touching distance of teammate Ash Riddell’s record disposal tally of 45 with 41 of her own, from just 74 per cent game time.

Ball-hungry Roos feast
Such was North Melbourne’s dominance, at an early point of the fourth term, the Roos had 11 of the top 15 in the disposal charts. With Anne Hatchard required to play in attack, Ebony Marinoff played effectively a lone hand through the midfield, with Sarah Goodwin, Danielle Ponter and Teah Charlton struggling against the stronger North bodies. Jasmine Garner and Ash Riddell were at their usual sterling best, with Ruby Tripodi providing great support.

Ruby Tripodi kicks the ball during the AFLW R10 match between North Melbourne and Adelaide at Arden Street Oval on October 18, 2025. Picture: AFL Photos

A dangerous finals blow
Adelaide came into its third-last game of the home and away season in fifth position with a percentage of 128.1. It left its third-last game in sixth position with a percentage of 112.8. The Crows are likely to need to win their last two matches – against Port Adelaide and Fremantle – to completely assure themselves of a finals berth, if Sydney also wins its final two matches.

Up next
Adelaide faces a stern test against a pumped-up Port Adelaide, looking for its first AFLW Showdown win. North Melbourne will make a trip down to Tasmania, hosting St Kilda at North Hobart Oval on Sunday.

NORTH MELBOURNE     5.1     5.8     8.8     10.11     (71)
ADELAIDE                            0.0     0.1     1.1     5.1     (31)

GOALS
North Melbourne: Tripodi, Randall, Bruton, Shierlaw, Riddell, E.King, Bogue, Garner, Craven, Wall
Adelaide: Jones 3, Charlton, Boileau

BEST
North Melbourne: Garner, Riddell, Randall, Kearney, O’Shea, Tripodi
Adelaide: Marinoff, Prowse, Newman, Jones 

INJURIES
North Melbourne: Nil
Adelaide: Nil

Crowd: 3,282 at Arden Street Oval