As of Friday night’s qualifying final clash with Hawthorn, it will have been 705 days since North Melbourne’s AFLW team lost a game.
They went through the 2025 home-and-away season undefeated, winning all 12 games and finishing with a ridiculous percentage of 321.5.
The Roos scored more than 200 more points than the next highest scoring team, and conceded 57 fewer than the next lowest.
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Kangaroos players sing the team song after beating Hawthorn. AFL Photos via Getty Images
Last year, they also ran through the competition without a loss, finishing with a percentage of 315 and winning the premiership.
The one caveat was a draw with Geelong, who didn’t even ultimately make the eight, in round two of 2024.
It’s a far cry from their male counterparts, who have spent the 2020s plastered to the bottom of the ladder.
The last time the Roos lost a game was the 2023 grand final to Brisbane. North had hit finals in red-hot form and were the favourites going into the game, but ultimately fell short.
It’s fair to say they’ve spent the last two years making amends for that hiccup.
Their win in the final round of the season against Hawthorn was their 24th consecutive victory, surpassing Geelong’s 23-game winning streak across 1952 and 1953 in the men’s VFL competition.
North is led by stars on every line. Jasmine Garner and Ash Riddell in the midfield, Tahlia Randall and Blaithin Bogue up forward and Libby Birch down back.
But this year’s accomplishments won’t mean a whole heap of they slip on a banana peel in finals.
They take on the Hawks again on Friday night, with a home preliminary final on the line.
Things got a bit heated between the two clubs in the aftermath of round 12 however, with Hawthorn not lining up as North chaired off Garner in her 100th game.
Given how short AFLW seasons are, it has taken her 10 seasons in the league to reach what is certainly a major milestone.
Jasmine Garner of the Kangaroos is chaired from the field after her 100th match. AFL Photos via Getty Images
The snub has been hotly debated on social media, with former AFLW player Kate McCarthy labelling it a “poor look” for the Hawks on the AFL website.
“This is on the leadership and probably the administration so your manager or someone that’s at the game that’s all across the logistics of what’s happening,” she said.
Port Adelaide great Kane Cornes was fine with it, however, posting to X that “sport isn’t supposed to be nice”.
Kangaroos forward Alice O’Loughlin took a shot at Hawthorn on Instagram in the aftermath, tagging them in the post of Garner being chaired off with “where you at?”.
We’ll find out on Friday what kind of fire that has lit under the two clubs.
On the other side of the qualifying final bracket is Melbourne hosting Brisbane. The Lions have won seven games in a row, while the Demons have looked like North’s main competitor for most of the season.
Carlton has been one of the surprise packets of the season, riding a young and exciting list to fifth place. They will host coach Daisy Pearce and West Coast in an elimination final.
Meanwhile Adelaide, the most successful team of the first decade of AFLW with three premierships, will face St Kilda, another big riser this season.
All eyes will be on the Kangaroos however, given the history that awaits them if they do end up going through a second straight season without a loss.
“I spoke to the whole program (and) the players about how proud I am of what we’ve been able to achieve,” North Melbourne coach Darren Crocker told reporters after the win over Hawthorn.
“Not just this year but over the last 24 months. It’s been pretty special. Now that’s all done, we finish in pole position and a new season starts.”