A key program run by the club known as \u2018The Huddle\u2019<\/a> played an integral role in laying the foundations for the club\u2019s now-admired culture.<\/p>\n\u201cNorth Melbourne were very unlucky to not get a licence initially. In my previous role, where I spent 10 years at AFL Victoria as their female football development manager … what I can share, is that North was one of the first clubs to really get on board with female footy,\u201d Kurdas said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn 2010 or 2011, Sonja Hood was the head of \u2018The Huddle\u2019 at the time. She was a great advocate for junior girls development programs and the work we did at AFL Victoria.<\/p>\n
Sold out AFLW GF calls for bigger venue | 00:36<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s played a really significant role in evolving the culture at the footy club, so that it was going to be female-empowered and female-ready for the AFLW. Her daughter played junior footy at Melbourne Uni, so she understood as a parent and could see through the lens of her daughter what women and girls need in order to thrive in the footy context.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe certainly brought lived experience into her role at North Melbourne, and how she was preparing North Melbourne for their crack at the AFLW.\u201d<\/p>\n
That early investment in women\u2019s football had tangible effects on how the club operated. By the time AFLW licences were handed out, North Melbourne had already built structures, relationships and philosophies that mirrored what elite women required. <\/p>\n
Unlike some other clubs who hastily applied for a women\u2019s licence, North weren\u2019t scrambling to adjust. It was more than ready, both culturally and operationally, to welcome a fully fledged AFLW program.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen they did get their licence, by that stage, they already had Bridget Barker, Laura Kane, Lou Calluzi … people that had been at Melbourne University. It played a really critical role; that\u2019s the pre-cursor as to how they built the squad, the staff and the players that came together in 2019 when they got the licence,\u201d Kurdas continued.<\/p>\n
Laura Kane (left) now works as the AFL’s Executive General Manager of Football Operations, while Dr. Sonja Hood AM has been North Melbourne’s president since March of 2022.Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n
\u201cThey got their club ready for 30-odd women, plus staff to come in and feel like they were treated in an equitable way, and that they had what they needed to thrive. All they needed to do was come and play footy; they didn\u2019t have to worry about being treated equally at the club.<\/p>\n
\u201cOf all the clubs, they\u2019re probably a club who\u2019s been really gender-empowered and gender-ready for women to come into it.<\/p>\n
\ufeffTheir iron-clad foundations made recruiting players to a brand new club much less daunting. While other clubs promised opportunity, North Melbourne could promise that, plus an environment where standards were nothing about women\u2019s football felt secondary. <\/p>\n
At the time in 2019, and even now, that distinction mattered.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you do all that groundwork, it\u2019s much easier to recruit players. People will come, because they know they\u2019ll be looked after from a cultural pesrepective. You\u2019re able to attract first-choice talent; your Jamsine Garner\u2019s and Emma Kearney\u2019s,\u201d Kurdas explained.<\/p>\n
“Business as usual” as Lions prep for GF | 00:55<\/p>\n
\u201cThey were able to attract a really good squad of players off the back of that.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey value leadership, really good skills, and they valued people who wanted to play a role in building a culture at the club \u2014 and work rate as well. They\u2019re almost boring to watch; they\u2019re so predictable and consistent.\u201d<\/p>\n
North Melbourne\u2019s on-field predictability is what could see them become the first-ever AFLW side to win back-to-back premierships, but again, it\u2019s the off-field consistency that truly differentiates them. <\/p>\n
Kurdas points out that some clubs, particularly in the early days, were still working out basic logistic equity. On the contrast, North eliminated the concept long before they became problems.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re not having to worry about: \u2018Does my swipe card work before 5pm?\u2019. Some clubs had that, because they wouldn\u2019t let women into the club while the men were still there, back in the day,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat cultural stuff was being addressed by people with lived experience, and there were women in significant roles of influence. Also men, who were really great men \u2014 they leaned and listened into Sonja\u2019s experience with her insights; as well as Laura and Lou … they were really understanding, empathetic and curious.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not a surprise at all (with their success). When you build something with people that integrate the needs of the people you\u2019re bringing in your club instead of later on … you can fast-track scoreboard success.<\/p>\n
Ultimately, North Melbourne\u2019s rise hasn\u2019t been accidental. It\u2019s the product of years of planning with the right people in optimal roles. <\/p>\n
Their on-field dominance has come from work done close to a decade before they even entered the league, with a vision for the women\u2019s game implemented before most others else saw it.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s led to the Roos becoming a home to so many superstars, recruited in a different sense to most across both the men\u2019s and women\u2019s competition.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Across the last few seasons of AFLW, no team has come close to being more consistent than North…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":313534,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[55,54608,3237,177509,6173,176784,26957,52767,177519,177515,177505,177511,177517,667,177521,177513,11288,177512,177507,43,148182,177520,150056,177514,14173,64787,18093,44,7204,94283,177510,175433,177516,177518,69398,177508,41,39,42,40,91230,177506,15630],"class_list":["post-313533","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-australian-football-league","tag-ball-magnet","tag-brisbane-lions","tag-calibre-stars","tag-club-legend","tag-controversial-vote-count","tag-elite-women","tag-emma-kearney","tag-fast-track-scoreboard-success","tag-female-football-development","tag-female-footy","tag-first-choice-talent","tag-football-development-manager","tag-footy-club","tag-footy-context","tag-girls-development-programs","tag-grand-final","tag-grand-final-opponents","tag-hardened-role-players","tag-headlines","tag-integral-role","tag-ironclad-foundations","tag-junior-footy","tag-junior-girls-development","tag-laura-kane","tag-melbourne-university","tag-midfield-depth","tag-news","tag-north-melbourne-kangaroos","tag-recruiting-players","tag-ridiculous-record","tag-roos-ampampamp-lions","tag-seasons-pushes","tag-sonja-hood","tag-superstar-midfielder","tag-swipe-card-work","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories","tag-unstoppable-force","tag-value-leadership","tag-work-rate"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/313533","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=313533"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/313533\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/313534"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=313533"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=313533"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=313533"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}