NORTH Melbourne has finally won its first AFL Women’s Premiership, after defeating Brisbane by 30 points tonight at Ikon Park.

The Roos got off to a really strong start and jumped out to a three-goal lead in the first term and had Brisbane on the back foot early, and really had the Lions rattled all night.

The Best on Ground Medal went to Jasmine Garner, who racked up 35 disposals in a dominant display though the midfield.

Brisbane had a lot of the early attacking run, but crucially it was North Melbourne who got the first goal of the match after Tess Craven snuck out the back of a pack and took a mark and kicked truly.

The Roos eventually found a second, then a third, for the term via Alice O’Loughlin, and were starting to build themselves a handy buffer and were proving to be able to find their targets in attack much easier than Brisbane were.

Brisbane did eventually find a first major for the term after Ellie Hampson belted one through from about 45m out with about 90 seconds left in the term. Hampson’s goal saw the quarter time margin sit at just under two goals in North Melbourne’s favour.

Perhaps a stark representation of North Melbourne’s dominance in the first term was that eight Lions – including the likes of Dakota Davidson, Tahlia Hickie and the Svarc sisters – had not recorded a disposal in the first term. In comparison, Vikki Wall was the only Roo that had not recorded a disposal in the first term.

One issue that really plagued Brisbane in the first term was giving the Roos forwards too much space in forward 50, and that continued again early in the second as Wall drifted into some space, grabbed a mark and slotted through North third goal of the match and first of the second to extend the home side’s lead.

Although North Melbourne did not pile on the goals like it did in the first term, the Roos were dominating around the ground, piling on a lot of defensive pressure and winning a lot of the ball and really rattling the Lions and restricting them to their defensive half.

The margin was only 17 points at half-time, but the Lions needed to have a huge reset at half time if they wanted to get back into the game.

Just to add to Brisbane’s woes, Hickie injured herself seconds into the third term, but thankfully for the Lions was able to return later in the game. On a more positive note the Lions were able to rack up a few inside 50s but could not take advantage of them on the scoreboard.

The third term really was one for the defenders as both teams’ defensive cohorts really impressed and really restricted the forwards’ ability to have an impact.

Neither side managed to kick a major in the final term, but a sole behind to Brisbane saw the margin slightly reduce to 16 points at the final change.

North Melbourne did not take too long into the last quarter to break the goal scoring drought, with Wall taking another strong mark almost directly in front of goal, and kicked truly for her second of the night.

Things went from bad to worse for the Lions when Jade Ellenger, who up to that point had been one of Brisbane’s best, came from the game after badly twisting her ankle in a contest.

O’Loughlin then popped through her third goal for the match about halfway through the term, and it was almost party time for the Roos.

NORTH MELBOURNE 3.0 | 4.1 | 4.1 | 6.3 (39)
BRISBANE                        1.1 | 1.2 | 1.3 | 1.3 (9)

GOALS:

North Melbourne: A. O’Loughlin 3, V. Wall 2, T. Craven
Brisbane: E. Hampson

BEST:

North Melbourne: J. Garner, A. Riddell, E. Kearney, A. O’Loughlin, V. Wall
Brisbane: I. Dawes, O. O’Dwyer, B. Koenen, A. Anderson, J. Ellenger