Hawthorn’s snubbing of North Melbourne champion Jasmine Garner during her guard of honour on Friday night was a “really poor look” according to AFLW expert Kate McCarthy.

Garner, who became just the sixth AFLW player to reach the 100 game milestone, was chaired off by her teammates in a guard of honour, but there was one glaring omission. The Hawks weren’t there.

McCarthy was scathing in her assessment of the incident, highlighting how both Fremantle and Collingwood were present in the guard of honour for Adelaide star Anne Hatchard and Brisbane champion Shannon Campbell across the course of the weekend.

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“This was one that I didn’t like the look of… I think this is a really poor look from Hawthorn as a club,” McCarthy said on AFL Media’s The Wrap.

“This isn’t on the players though I don’t think. When you lose a game there’s other things you’re thinking about. This is on the leadership and the administration… there needed to be Hawthorn players present.”

North Melbourne forward Alice O’Loughlin chimed in on a post on social media with the caption, “@hawthornaflw where you at?”.

“To be honest, I support Alice O’Loughlin in calling that out. It adds a little bit of spice, but it’s a really poor look,” McCarthy added.

McCarthy’s co-host, AFLW expert Gemma Bastiani, said it was a “big miss” from the Hawks.

“It’s kind of remarkable how universally loved and respected Jasmine Garner is,” Bastiani said.

“At some point in that post-match, someone needed to realise… big miss from the Hawks.”

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North Melbourne’s win over Hawthorn saw them break the VFL/AFL/AFLW record for consecutive wins, notching their 24th in a row.

The loss saw Hawthorn slip from second place on the ladder to fourth after the Lions and Dees both won their respective matches over the weekend.

That means the Hawks and the Roos will do battle for the second time in a week on Friday night and after the guard of honour incident, it’s sure to be even more spicy.

“There’s a bit of ill feeling brewing between Hawthorn and North Melbourne ahead of their rematch,” Fox Footy commentator Kelli Underwood told the W Debrief.

“It might be a bit of a popcorn event this one,” Herald Sun journalist and co-panellist Lauren Wood added.

Wood then highlighted how Frankston’s unique changeroom set up, the two change rooms are on opposite sides of the ground, could have contributed to the issue.

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“Hawthorn at this stage are making their way to their rooms on the other side of the ground, they may have been unaware that these celebrations of Jasmine Garner were going on,” she said.

“But speaking to some people at North Melbourne, there was a bit of a feeling that there was a lack of respect from Hawthorn. Not only is she a champion of North Melbourne… but she’s a pioneer of the women’s game who’s changed the fabric of the game.”

Underwood joked that it was almost symbolic of Garner’s time in the game, which somehow, despite having earned seven All-Australian blazers throughout her career, is still criminally underrated.

“The irony is that it’s so Jas Garner, that they didn’t realise, that no one realises anything with Jas Garner! The umpires don’t realise when she’s on the ground and now Hawthorn don’t realise it’s her 100th game,” Underwood said.

“Arguably the best we’ve had in a decade, I think that’s the disappointing fact that not only is she a star of the game, but she’s been a game changer over the first ten years. She’s a future AFL Hall of Famer.”

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Hawthorn captain Emily Bates is currently sidelined with injury and Geelong skipper Meg McDonald questioned whether that contributed to Hawthorn’s error.

“No doubt that it’s an oversight from Hawthorn, whether that’s from administration or the fact the captain wasn’t out on the field. I certainly don’t think they would have intentionally been stirring up some discontent given they’re facing North in the finals series,” McDonald told the W Debrief.

“I’m sure they would’ve loved to be out there because there is no more popular player than Jas Garner in the competition. Her excellence is respected – she gets a cheer every time she gets votes at the W awards because she hasn’t won one yet – I don’t know that it would have been intentional from Hawthorn, you want to step up in those moments, the moments gone, they’ll let it go by but I don’t know if North will do the same.”

Does that mean Friday night’s qualifying colour will be even spicier?

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“I don’t, it’s a finals clash so it’ll be spicy anyway. I think there’s probably some hope from the North Melbourne team that Jas plays incredibly well and it’ll go on from there. Alice O’Loughlin can be a little fiery in the forward line, perhaps she’ll get into the Hawks if she gets on the scoreboard,” McDonald said.

Former Port Adelaide midfielder Kane Cornes took a different view, tweeting “sport isn’t meant to be nice”.

“Not sure when opposition teams lining up for a notable but not a major milestone became the expectation,” he said.

Wood believes that O’Loughlin’s social media comment is the sort of thing that can “create real rivalries in the competition”.

“I like seeing this kind of thing. We see a lot of the social media banter in the men’s game… I think it just adds to what’s going to be a great finals series.”

The two AFLW powerhouses will open the 2025 NAB AFLW Finals series on Friday night at Ikon Park.