NORTH Melbourne became the first AFL Women’s side to claim back-to-back premierships, and they did it in style, not losing a single match over the past two seasons, with only a single draw blemishing an other perfect past 29 games. After a tight start in the grand final against Brisbane, the Roos stamped their authority on the contest to win 9.2 (56) to 2.4 (16).

Coach Darren Crocker said it was a similar feeling to the year before, but with an “even greater sense of relief”.

“You get to that sudden death stage, like we got to last week after being on this enormous streak that we’ve been on, which has been phenomenal, the program’s been so good, staying consistent, staying in the present, not looking too far forward, but one little slip up (and) we may not have made a Grand Final,” he said.

“And then today, I was just so pleased for the program because I just felt like we got what we actually deserved. “We have been the best team for the last two years, and it would have been an absolute shame not to actually have won that Grand Final.

“But I know football, I’m a realist as well and I know that sometimes things don’t go your way. And you know, we (were) actually able to put a really strong performance out tonight and just really justify why we’re where we are.”

Forbidden to utter the words “back-to-back” throughout the season as to not get ahead of themselves, the Roos mentor was the first to release the ban on the dais.

“A little bit of a joke up on the dais at the end, because we weren’t allowed to mention the words back-to-back,” Crocker said.

The Roos coach credited Brisbane with setting the standard for the competition, and being the one the Roos looked up to in order to match.

“Over the last few years Brisbane (were) the ones who were setting the example, or setting the standard with that,” he said. “When I first came into the women’s space, and I knew that we needed to actually catch up to the way they went about their high-performance stuff.

“For me personally, I’ve come into this space, and I’ve always felt that the product could be improved a hell of a lot, with some really good coaching, with some high performance being where it needs to be with the resourcing within your program.

“And I think we’re actually seeing the benefits of that. I think the product’s… improving and looking pretty good. So, let’s keep trying to lift or raise those standards, keep improving, keep getting better, and yeah, hopefully we can draft a few with us.”

One fresh face in 2025 was Eilish Sheerin with the former Tiger traded for Pick 18 last off-season. In a real sliding doors moment, Sheerin fought back from injury late in the season to play a starring role in the AFLW Grand Final with 28 disposals, eight clearances, 11 tackles and two goals to be unanimously voted best on ground.

Now the Roos head to the off-season looking for ways to go another level as their 29-game unbeaten and 27-game winning streak will live on for another eight months at least.