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Sing it one and all: North's premiership breakthrough one for the whole club

North Melbourne's name has been sealed into women's football history books after a resounding AFLW Grand Final win over the Lions in a tale of redemption after last year's loss.

The side won its first AFLW minor premiership and bounded back for their second-consecutive Grand Final appearance in 2024.

But the threads throughout this side run deep.

It was a win of firsts.

They became the first ever team in VFL/AFL/AFLW history to complete a season undefeated. And Libby Birch became the first in all men's or women's footy history to win a premiership with three different clubs (Birch is also the only AFLW player with wins against all 18 clubs).

Having only entered the competition in 2019, the Kangaroos also became the first ever expansion side to win a premiership, while star player Jasmine Garner finally won an individual league accolade as best on ground with 35 disposals and ten clearance performance, after a career of perpetually missing out on winning the league's best and fairest award.

Finally, with the men's team not winning a flag since 1999 -- and having won just 12 games in the past four years -- the women's success feels like a beacon of hope for the entire club and its supporter base.

Premiership coach and the AFL Coaches Association AFLW Senior Coach of the Year, Darren Crocker breathed an audible sigh of relief after his side got the job done.

"I feel relief, I'd be lying if I said I didn't feel a little bit of weight of expectation coming into tonight," Crocker said in the post-match press conference.

"I would have never said it to the players or the people around me but to go through a season undefeated to this point, to have made a grand final last year and be in front at three quarter time and get overrun."

Crocker himself retired in 1998 after 165 games for North and a flag, so missed the 1999 Premiership win.

"I'm just so happy, so pleased for the club, so pleased for our fans," Crocker said.

"When I stood up there on the stage and looked to the crowd and all the North Melbourne people still here to celebrate with us.

"We haven't had a lot to cheer about obviously in the men's program but hopefully the women's program are giving them something to come to the footy, something to look forward to and I'm sure that the men's program ill turn things around and piggyback on the back of our success."

While the women were celebrating their much-deserved and long awaited success, the men were watching on, and have been taking notes.

During last week's preliminary final win over Port Adelaide, young gun of the men's side, Harry Sheezel said the AFL program was watching intently.

"Their pressure is second to none, they're set up behind the ball unbelievably, they're rotating defence," he told Channel 7.

"Especially after last year they got so close and we thought we'd get there last year but they've had an unbelievable year they haven't lost a game, so I think just that hunger this year is going to take them that next step hopefully.

"That's what you play footy for you want to be in big finals, you want to win flags and the girls are setting the example for us and showing us how it's done and we actually are really close with the girls we see them all the time at the club.

"The programs marry up really well so we definitely connect a lot and help each other out so hopefully we can follow in their footsteps."

With the men's side struggling down the bottom of the ladder for so long, and the women having been up the top for many years, perhaps the premiership success will be binding substance that pulls these two clubs within a club closer together, both on and off the field. It's clearly something the club's leaders are spruiking.