North Melbourne Kangaroos v Brisbane Lions: AFLW grand final – live
Key events
Brisbane are into an incredible sixth grand final out of the eight deciders that have been held since the AFLW was launched in 2017. A win over North Melbourne this evening at Ikon Park would take the AFLW powerhouse level with Adelaide for the most premierships in the league with three flags.
It almost seems a bit unfair, like it might be time to give someone else a go, but Jack Snape found out what makes the Lions the competition benchmark.
There is strength in the Lions’ collective. Under the AFLW’s tiered salary system, players fall into one of four tiers each with fixed salaries, but across a club’s entire list only two possible combinations will add up to next season’s $1.175m cap number: one with more players at the top and bottom, and the other with more players in the middle tiers. “We say one’s capitalist and one’s communist,” Brock says. “We’re communists, but we’re the only club who’s gone that way.”
We have AFLW reporter Danielle Croci already in a seat at Ikon Park in Melbourne where the forecast is for – no more rain! But Danielle is seeing otherwise …
The drizzle is still coming down, on and off, although some sun has started poking through. It will be interesting to see if it does actually clear up as forecasts are promising. The Kangaroos have played in heavy rain four times this season so if it keeps up, that could favour them. Although, whether it does or doesn’t stop raining, I’ve been told that Ikon Park drains quite well. Both teams are out there doing some warm-ups now.
Preamble
Martin Pegan
Hello and welcome to live coverage of the 2024 AFLW grand final between North Melbourne and Brisbane at Ikon Park. This is of course a rematch of last year’s decider, when the Lions overran the Kangaroos in the final term to clinch their second premiership.
North Melbourne are still searching for their maiden AFLW flag – which would also be the first for an expansion side – but are undefeated since suffering grand final heartbreak this time last year. The Roos sent an early warning shot across the competition when dismantling the Lions with a six-goal blitz in round one, and have only been held to a draw (the following week against the Cats) while putting together a supreme season across 13 matches. Victory tonight at Ikon Park would cap off the Kangaroos’ commanding year and make them the first unbeaten premier in the AFLW’s nine seasons.
Brisbane are eyeing their own slice of history as they aim to become the first AFLW club to go back-to-back. A third flag would also draw level with Adelaide for the most premierships, while the Lions already hold the remarkable record for heading into a sixth grand final tonight out of the total eight AFLW deciders. The battle-hardened Lions tend to get better as the stakes rise, and their performance when overpowering the Crows last weekend was a reminder of how ominous they are at this time of year.
The first bounce will be at 7.45pm AEDT but stick around for the lead in to the big game including all that’s happening with the pre-match entertainment.
Get in touch with any comments, questions, thoughts and predictions for the AFLW grand final – you can shoot me an email or find me @martinpegan on Bluesky or X. Let’s get into it!
