With the preliminary finals run and won we find ourselves for the third year running at Ikon Park on the final Saturday of November, with North Melbourne to host the Brisbane Lions.
With the ledger sitting at one premiership apiece, to the victor goes the spoils and the bragging rights. If North slip up, then their two-year unbeaten run will end, with Brisbane effectively claiming an even greater scalp to bring down the ‘invincibles’.
Preliminary final weekend didn’t disappoint. Melbourne had been talking themselves up as a contender; as a side that North hadn’t met in season 2025. They had been evolving their game style with the goal of matching it with the champs.
In essence, they succeeded; but just couldn’t do it well enough for long enough.
This was one of the greatest games of AFLW and showed what this product is evolving towards. A clear indicator is the increasing weight of positive commentary in the social media threads. Misogyny is being drowned out.
After a week off having easily beaten Hawthorn in the qualifying final, perhaps North were a little slow out of the blocks. Melbourne weren’t; they’d lost to Brisbane in their own qualifying final by 16 points in a game where more efficient finishing might have seen a closer margin.
Taking on Adelaide in the semi-finals, the Dees were challenged very strongly and found that extra gear to claw back the lead and win by 11 points. This was the perfect build up for them to take on a Kangas side that hadn’t had a closer result than 29 points across the season.
Three goals to one behind and Melbourne had done what almost no one else had done all year – though Essendon had dominated on the scoreboard in the first quarter of their own clash with North at Windy Hill. The Kangas needed to respond, and did so with three goals in four minutes to pull back within a point.
From that point, 17 minutes into the first until the final siren, the margin would be no greater than a goal and a half. From 3.2 to 0.1 behind, North finished with 6.9 to 2.4, holding Melbourne scoreless in the final term to closeout the win in the final minutes to progress to the decider. A 26th win on the trot, and still yet to concede more than five goals in a game for season 2025.
GRAND FINAL ROOS
— 7AFL (@7AFL) November 22, 2025
Game. Of. The. Year. pic.twitter.com/gZWZuKYK6p
Up in Brisbane, it was the hard-headed Lions against the rejuvenated Blues, with the underdogs giving themselves a look – for a while.
Kicking the only goal of the first quarter and leading at the first break, hopes were raised for a major upset. Come half time, though, and it was three goals apiece; with the Lions five in front.
However in that third term – the ‘premiership quarter’ – it was Brisbane who put the foot down and Carlton were found wanting. To their credit, the Blues goalled in every quarter and managed to ‘win’ the final term, even if just by a point. They will be better for the learnings.
Brisbane will have had the easier preliminary final match up; will that be beneficial?
And so it is down to the decider.
Brisbane came from a goal down at the final break in 2023 to run over the Kangas with the breeze behind them and Dakota Davidson standing tall. In 2024, North got early goals on the board and resisted Brisbane surges to pull away in the final term and secure a famous first premiership.
The Kangas haven’t tasted defeat since that 2023 decider. Brisbane are an original AFLW club and a powerhouse across the full life of the competition, and are desperate to match Adelaide on three premierships. The Kangas are out to become the first back to back premiers full stop.
Ultimately, this is the best of three. And that’s the ultimate coin toss decider, isn’t it?
Can this be the greatest AFLW decider?
Munro Mikehttps://https://ift.tt/GuWYw8h of three: With one premiership apiece, who claims AFLW glory in 2025 – the Lions, or North?
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