NORTH Melbourne coach Darren Crocker was all smiles after his side’s emphatic 69-point drubbing of Carlton at Ikon Park to maintain their unbeaten record in the 2024 AFLW season.

The Kangaroos got out to a commanding lead in the first quarter, piling on five unanswered goals before extending their lead to hold a 44-point buffer at the main break.

Although the Blues did hit the scoreboard in the third quarter to avoid being held goalless for the second match in a row, it was their only major of the match against a clinical North Melbourne side that cruised home to a (12.7) 79 to 1.4 (10) victory on Wednesday night.

Kangaroos coach Crocker said it was job well done for his team in cold conditions in the second game of the round.

“We came here and pretty much achieved what we wanted to achieve,” he said. “Only two weeks ago [Carlton] beat Geelong away from home and they controlled the contest and got the territory battle on their terms.

“They were a couple of things we were really keen to take away from them and the numbers suggest we won the contest pretty well, we won the territory battle and we pressured their handball game and it ended up being a really strong result for us.”

After opting not to tag Monique Conti last week, the Blues put some time into negating the effect of Jasmine Garner to reasonable effect, restricting her to 22 disposals and a goal.

However, it allowed the in-form Ash Riddell to run rampant, gathering 36 disposals, six marks and seven tackles in a prolific display, one that certainly pleased Crocker.

“Ash just keeps on keeping on, she’s such a pro,” he said. “She is such a driven athlete. Her off-season was exceptional, and her preseason was outstanding. She’s again set herself up for a really strong year.

“She always wants to get better, always is looking at ‘okay what parts of my game can I improve?’ and something she’s really embraced and been working on is her ability to get forward from the contest and put the ball inside forward 50, score assists or even kicking goals herself. That’s something she’s really brought into her game this season.”

North Melbourne currently sits atop the ladder with four wins and a draw from five matches, and appears one of the teams to beat in the 2024 season, with Crocker highlighting some key areas of improvement, including scoring accuracy.

“It’s not just the forwards, but its our connection,” he said. “Our overall connection has been strong. It’s been a work in progress for a couple of seasons, and we worked pretty strongly on it over the preseason and its come together this year.

“Also we talk a lot about trying to get quality shots, and to be able to spread the load, get players into good position, its only going to help with your accuracy.”