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North Melbourne is on the verge of doing what just one other team has achieved in AFLW history: complete a home-and-away season without a loss.
Outside of its week two draw with Geelong, the Kangaroos have won their way through the season.
One last victory on Saturday afternoon against the 17th-placed Gold Coast would see them better the Brisbane Lions' inaugural 2017 season, in which they won every game except one, a draw — but that season was only seven games long, as opposed to 11 in 2024.
It comes off the back of the club's maiden grand final appearance in 2023, one it lost by 17 points. But this year, an already exceptional team has set a new standard for the AFLW.
The Kangaroos have lit up the stats sheet this year, leading the way in nearly every key statistic recorded, including points for, tackles, clearances, contested possessions, and points against.
Historically, North Melbourne has been a particularly strong defensive side. Always landing in the top five teams in the competition, and conceding the fewest points across the league over the past two seasons.
But what it has built this year is a way to balance that staunch defensive mindset into devastating attack.
Put simply, the Roos are generating big scores in two key ways – intercepting the footy and slingshotting into attack, and using their strength at the contest to send the ball forward.
Intercepting transition
North Melbourne is the best team in the competition this year at turning defensive half possession into scores. It scores an average of 17.3 points per game from the back half, with 10.8 of those points coming from defensive-half intercepts.
Added to the average of 20.8 points scored each week from front-half intercepts, more than half of North Melbourne's weekly score is sourced from opposition turnovers.
Loading...A significant increase in pressure, specifically tackles, has allowed the club to worry its opposition into errors to create these intercepting opportunities.
The reason the Roos have proven to be so deadly on turnover is because of their structure that is diligently maintained ahead of the ball. They make the ground long, meaning there is always a forward or two staying deep as an option to target once the ball has been won.
Typically, the deepest forward is Tahlia Randall, who they prefer to isolate in one-on-one contests thanks to her physical strength and skill both in the air and on the deck. The next layer tends to be Kate Shierlaw, a deceptively fast and agile tall.
And smaller duo Bella Eddey and Alice O'Loughlin are good decision-makers, meaning they can be relied on to press high up the field to help create those all-important intercepts, while also picking the right moments to power back into the attacking 50 to become targets themselves.
The quartet has kicked 42 goals between them so far this season, and because of its dynamic combination, can prove very difficult for opposition defences to contain.
Stoppage power
The Kangaroos are arguably best known for their powerful midfield, most notably the one-two punch of Jasmine Garner and Ash Riddell. But they added even more depth to the line, with Mia King rising through the ranks in recent years to become a certain starter, and this season Ruby Tripodi's elevation to the on-ball brigade.
Such force at the contest is one thing, but the skill and efficiency with which the Roos turn their clearances into attacking opportunities is unparalleled this year.
They are winning first possession of the ball more often than any other team, beating the opposition to ground balls more regularly, and dominating contested possession counts.
Of the club's 57.8 points per game, a league-high 19.7 of those are scored directly from stoppage. This attacking prowess is largely due to a willingness to exit out the front of stoppage, finding a handball receive option that is already on the move – not flat footed – meaning their momentum is more difficult to stop.
On top of such clearance power, their midfielders are also getting forward and kicking goals of their own. Garner leads the way with 12, while Riddell, and Tripodi, along with wingers Tess Craven and Taylah Gatt have also joined the party this year.
Boasting weapons on all lines, the Kangaroos importantly link those weapons dangerously to create a system that is bigger than the sum of its parts.
They make it incredibly difficult for opposition sides to win possession, even harder to maintain chains of possession, starve teams of scoring opportunities, and then pile on the scores of their own.
Come finals, where the heat turns up another notch, it is a game style that appears hardened, able to withstand the barbs the best sides in the AFLW might throw their way, before throwing their own back, tenfold.