North Melbourne’s newest premiership captain Emma Kearney has cheekily hinted for the AFL to adopt the AFLW’s newfound grand final timeslot at night.
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After successfully downing last year’s winners Brisbane 39-9 for an emphatic maiden AFLW flag, the Kangaroos’ skipper went up on stage post-game to deliver some heartfelt messages.
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“I want to thank the Brisbane Lions; it’s a remarkable record that you have … it’s admirable (and) it’s probably the reason we had to take the next step in our system,” Kearney said to her opponents.
“Thank you so much for leading the way in women’s football.
“To NAB and the AFL, thank you for putting on such a great season; a night grand final is pretty special… maybe we might see it in the men’s, who knows.
“… maybe not!”
North complete perfect season undefeated | 03:06
The AFL have consistently debated the starting time of their league’s grand finals, with the only two night matches to ever come taking place outside of Melbourne during Covid (Brisbane, 2020 and Perth, 2021).
Outside of the aforementioned anomalies, the normal start time for the mens’ last Saturday in September is 2:30pm AEST.
“Lastly, just want to thank the football club; all are staff that’s involved,” Kearney added.
“A special mention to Darren Crocker; you were a premiership player, you’re now a premiership coach!”
Kearney’s Kangaroos never looked like losing on Saturday night, restricting the Lions to just two points after quarter time – in a performance that Brisbane coach Craig Starcevich labelled “the best footy I’ve ever seen”.