Bella Eddey celebrates a goal during the qualifying final between North Melbourne and Hawthorn at Ikon Park on November 7, 2025. Picture: AFL Photos

NORTH Melbourne has continued its seemingly inevitable march to a second premiership with a 39-point qualifying final win over a goalless Hawthorn.

The Hawks held the Roos to their lowest score of the year but could not hit the scoreboard at all in the 5.12 (42) to 0.3 (3) result in front of a somewhat hostile crowd at Ikon Park.

It is the lowest score in an AFLW final.

KANGAROOS v HAWKS Full match coverage and stats

With the two sides meeting twice in seven days, Vikki Wall and Kate Shierlaw had been added to the already sterling North Melbourne line-up after last week’s win, while Hawthorn had swapped talls, regaining Jess Vukic in place of the injured Ellie Symonds.

It was murky weather that couldn’t quite make up its mind – kind of humid, kind of windy, kind of dry, kind of wet. It meant conditions were somewhat slippery, and when coupled with finals pressure, it was a frantic and fumbly start.

Nat Exon stepped over the mark, and a gift 50m penalty was given to Kim Rennie, and the Roos had the first and the veteran ruck had her third ever AFLW major in 86 games.

With North Melbourne’s strong skills on show, Hawthorn’s way back into the game was through toughness, and the Hawks’ pressure was strong across the field. They just couldn’t pierce that final line of the Roos’ defence, with Libby Birch and ex-Hawk Eliza Shannon standing strong.

Despite holding ascendency in both the clearances and contested possessions in the second term, Hawthorn had still not taken a single mark inside forward 50 by half-time. 

The Roos struggled to find a clear path to goal themselves, but at least got some shots away, even if they were inaccurate, with the floodgates opening in the fourth as the game opened up and Hawthorn couldn’t maintain the rage.

Jasmine Garner didn’t necessarily pile on the stat sheet, but her disposal was exquisite, changing lanes with pin-point passes across the field and cutting the game open by foot.

Ash Riddell was held to a comparatively low 26 disposals, while Erika O’Shea, Jenna Bruton and Tess Craven provided plenty of run and class on the outside.

Eliza West played a lone hand in the midfield for Hawthorn with a game-high 27 touches, with a curiously quiet Jas Fleming managing just 13, while Jenna Richardson held up well in defence amid the chaos. 

Tahlia Randall should escape MRO scrutiny for a heavy tackle on Emily Everist, although the Hawk required a HIA test in the third term.

Lack of firepower hits Hawks
North Melbourne held a side scoreless in a quarter for the 50th time in its run of 25 straight wins, and the Hawks didn’t manage to kick a single goal throughout the entire game. They’ve been seriously struggling to find a secondary path to goal this year to support Aine McDonagh, who coming into this match had kicked 21 goals, ahead of Greta Bodey with 11, and Kaitlyn Ashmore and Laura Stone in equal-third with just three goals.

An eventful third term
It was hard to know where to look in the third quarter, as tempers flared and injuries hit Hawthorn hard. Firstly, the boundary umpires were reduced to three, with their injured fourth counterpart not returning after the main break. Then Kaitlyn Ashmore limped from the field with a right calf complaint, Everist ran down the race for a HIA, Laura Elliott was the victim of a big Vikki Wall walloping run, and Aine McDonagh made a very slow exit with a right knee injury, the physio oddly leaving her to run solo. Greta Bodey elbowed Emma Kearney in the back, leading to a tussle, and tempers flared again on the three-quarter time siren. Elliott and a still-hampered McDonagh returned after the three-quarter time break, and Everist passed her HIA. Ashmore was not sighted in the second half, playing just 40 per cent game time.

Up next
North Melbourne has the week off ahead of a home preliminary final at Ikon Park, while Hawthorn will face the winner of Saturday’s Carlton-West Coast clash, with the semi-final also at Ikon Park.

NORTH MELBOURNE   1.4    2.7   2.8    5.12 (42)
HAWTHORN                 0.0    0.1   0.2    0.3 (3)

GOALS
North Melbourne: Rennie, O’Loughlin, Bogue, Randall, Eddey
Hawthorn: Nil

BEST
North Melbourne: Garner, Riddell, O’Shea, Craven, Bruton
Hawthorn: West, Richardson, Everist, Lucas-Rodd

INJURIES
North Melbourne: Nil
Hawthorn: Ashmore (calf), McDonagh (knee)

Crowd: 4,392 at Ikon Park