‘Meant to be enjoyable’: Pure heartbreak as Lions eye end to ridiculous Roos streak — AFLW GF LIVE
North Melbourne’s perfect 15-game season is complete.
The Kangaroos are the 2025 AFLW premiers, triumphing over the Brisbane Lions on Saturday night in a grand final that was a true culmination of a dominant two-year period.
In the third straight grand final between the two teams, the Kangaroos produced their 27th straight win, defeating the Lions by 40 points – 9.2 (56) to 2.4 (16) – at Ikon Park to become the first team in AFLW history to win back-to-back flags.
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The last time the Kangaroos lost a game, remarkably, was against Brisbane in the 2023 grand final. Since then, they’ve won 27 of 28 games, with a draw against Geelong early in the 2024 season the only game where they haven’t walked away with the full four points.
It capped off the perfect week for superstar Kangaroos midfielder Ash Riddell, who racked up the most disposals ever in an AFLW grand final to become a dual premiership player five days after winning the competition’s best and fairest medal.
But with so much attention on Riddell and eight-time All-Australian Jas Garner, it was ex-Tiger Eilish Sheerin who set the tone for the Roos, booting two first-half goals to spark her team’s fast start.
Peking Duk open AFLW Grand Final! | 01:21
For Brisbane, midfielder Belle Dawes produced the most inspirational individual performance in a losing cause. Despite her efforts, few Lions teammates came with her and ill-disciplined consistently cost them as the ruthless Kangaroos – like they have done for two seasons – showed no mercy to their opposition.
After the Lions kicked the first goal of the game, the Kangaroos steadied with a run of six straight goals that stretched from early in the first term to the start of the third.
Brisbane, led by Dawes, threatened a mini comeback in the third term, before a classy Garner goal deflated the visitors. Then two goals to veteran Jenna Bruton early in the fourth quarter sparked party scenes.
Bruton’s first goal came via a 50m penalty — two quarters after the biggest turning point in the match.
With North only leading by four points early in the second term, Kate Shierlaw took a strong mark on the wing. She was pushed by Shannon Campbell after taking the mark, leading to a 50m penalty.
But the fired-up Campbell then failed to get out of the protected zone running back to her defensive 50, leading to a 100m penalty that saw Shierlaw convert a set-shot goal from point-blank range.
“Have we seen a moment that might cost the Brisbane Lions the grand final? It was a moment of madness,” Fox Footy commentator Kelli Underwood said.
“It’s like someone pricked a balloon and you could see the entire Brisbane Lions team deflated.”
Ex-Blues AFLW coach Daniel Harford added: “It was such a key moment in the game and from a player with so much experience who’s normally so calm and composed.”
MORE TO COME
