Key events
Q1: 16 mins remaining: North Melbourne 0.0.0 – Brisbane 0.0.0
The Lions begin the game just as the would have wanted by winning the first centre clearance and locking the ball forward. The Kangaroos defence looks impenetrable from about 30m out.
First bounce
North Melbourne and Brisbane players meet at the centre circle as the 2025 AFLW grand final begins at Ikon Park. The Lions get the first clearance but Roos stalwart Emma Kearney tidies up. Game on!
Bonnie Anderson has completed the national anthem and captains Jasmine Garner and Breanna Koenen are giving their teammates one last rev up before the North Melbourne and Brisbane players head to their positions with the AFLW grand final about to get under way at Ikon Park.
Jasmine Garner leads North Melbourne on to Ikon Park with under 10 minutes until the first bounce. Former skipper Emma Kearney, as well as Jenna Bruton and Kim Rennie, are chasing a third flag of their own, while Libby Birch could become the first four-time premiership player in AFLW history.
Eilish Sheerin is playing in her first AFLW grand final along with All-Australian goalsneak Blaithin Bogue and Eliza Shannon. The latter was the unlucky player last year when Emma Kearney returned to the side as the Kangaroos broke through for a first AFLW premiership.
Brisbane are out on the field with captain Breanna Koenen leading the way. The Lions take 12 two-time premiership players into the match, including Ally Anderson, Shannon Campbell and Koenen. Neasa Dooley, and former West Coast pair Shanae Davison and Eleanor Hartill will be aiming to claim their first AFLW premiership.
It’s North Melbourne against Brisbane: take three.
But, as Jack Snape writes, the consistent brilliance of the Lions and Kangaroos has highlighted a lack of ambition from other AFLW clubs, whose failure to even spend what they are allowed to on coaches is an open secret in the competition.
Few in the intimate footy industry wish to point fingers at other clubs, but multiple officials have told the Guardian this season some programs are not spending the full amount they are entitled to under the league’s rules.
Kearney said there were “a lot of reasons” for the success of the Kangaroos and Lions including how the clubs embrace their women’s operations, the quality of their high-performance programs, the standard of coaching and a commitment to fitness.
But she said “the way the clubs resource their programs” was most important.
The Kangaroos and Lions players have completed their on-field warm ups and now it’s over to Peking Duk to get the crowd moving.
Final teams
No changes on either side as Mia King remains the unlucky player for the Kangaroos after injuring a knee in round nine. Coach Darren Crocker must have been tempted to recall the midfielder who earned the full 10 coaches’ votes when these sides met in round five this season.
Here is how the two sides have been named.
North Melbourne
B: Libby Birch, Jasmine Ferguson
HB: Emma Kearney, Eliza Shannon, Erika O’Shea
C: Amy Smith, Ruby Tripodi, Taylah Gatt
HF: Alice O’Loughlin, Blaithin Bogue, Jenna Bruton
F: Tahlia Randall, Emma King
R: Kim Rennie, Ash Riddell, Jasmine Garner
Int: Kate Shierlaw, Bella Eddey, Tess Craven, Eilish Sheerin, Vikki Wall
Brisbane
B: Shannon Campbell, Jennifer Dunne
HB: Breanna Koenen, Natalie Grider, Lily Postlethwaite
C: Orla O’Dwyer, Alexandra Anderson, Charlotte Mullins
HF: Courtney Hodder, Taylor Smith, Sophie Conway
F: Catherine Svarc, Dakota Davidson
R: Tahlia Hickie, Jade Ellenger, Isabel Dawes
Int: Shanae Davison, Neasa Dooley, Ellie Hampson, Eleanor Hartill, Ruby Svarc
The AFLW grand final is a sell-out for the third straight year – and the second consecutive season under lights at Ikon Park – with more than 12,500 fans set to watch North Melbourne and Brisbane lock horns yet again.
Let’s hope the AFL can find a solution over the next 12 months for a suitable venue that would allow even more fans to be part of what should be a celebration of women’s football as much as the season decider between the competing clubs.
Preamble
The best things come in threes.
Hello and welcome to live coverage of the 2025 AFLW grand final between North Melbourne and Brisbane as the pair of powerhouse sides meet in the decider for a third straight season. The premiership ledger over that time stands at one-all, which gives each team an opportunity to claim to be the ‘best of three’ and the standout of the stretch. Though, in truth, the Kangaroos have already raised the bar to lofty new heights while embarking on an undefeated run since stumbling at the last hurdle against the Lions in 2023.
The all-conquering North Melbourne are now on the verge of etching their name in the record books as the first side in VFL/AFL/AFLW history to win every game in a season on their way to the premiership crown. The Kangaroos have got used to breaking records over the past two years as the reigning premiers have won 26 consecutive matches since their only blemish of a draw against the Cats in round two last year. Perhaps most importantly for the Roos in their season for the ages, they are now just one win away from becoming the AFLW’s first back-to-back premiers after their breakthrough triumph against the Lions last season.
The perennial contenders Brisbane are in the unusual position of being the underdogs at Ikon Park despite playing in a fourth successive grand final. This is also their seventh AFLW decider out of the nine that have been staged. The Lions have their own slice – or two – of history within reach as their third women’s flag would equal the Crows’ tally. It would also ensure the club becomes the first to win both the AFL and AFLW premierships in the same year. But a victory for the Lions tonight, let’s face it, would be most memorable for being one of the all-time great upsets over an otherwise dominant side that has barely been challenged for two years.
We’ll find out whether the Kangaroos can finish writing their own fairytale, or the Lions script a stunning plot twist, from the first bounce at Ikon Park in Melbourne at 7.45pm AEDT. In the meantime, get in touch with any comments, questions, thoughts and predictions for the AFLW grand final – shoot me an email or find me @martinpegan onBluesky orX. Let’s get into it!
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