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Legacy is on the line for North Melbourne in Sunday\u2019s grand final against the Brisbane Lions, with Kangaroos coach Darren Crocker and his players aiming to emulate their rivals by cementing their place in AFLW history as premiers.<\/p>\n
The Lions are playing in their fifth grand final, and won the flag in 2021 when they beat fellow powerhouse Adelaide, and Crocker, speaking on Saturday ahead of the grand final at Ikon Park, said the moment was there for North Melbourne to seize their first AFLW premiership.<\/p>\n
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North Melbourne\u2019s Emma Kearney and Brisbane\u2019s Bre Koenen with the trophy ahead of Sunday\u2019s AFLW grand final.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Luis Enrique Ascui<\/cite><\/p>\n \u201cIt is amazing for the current group, our program, to be in a position where we\u2019ve spoken about [that] you only get the opportunity to be the first once, and we\u2019ve got that opportunity right in front of us to create a legacy,\u201d said Crocker.<\/p>\n \u201cIt would be enormous for us, as a club and the women\u2019s program. We feel we\u2019re in a really, really good space. It\u2019s been a journey but to now give ourselves an opportunity to win our first ever AFLW premiership would be pretty special.\u201d<\/p>\n But to do so, North Melbourne will have to overcome a foe they have never beaten, having lost all four clashes with the Lions in their AFLW history. <\/p>\n When asked if this record was playing on Crocker\u2019s mind, the coach\u2019s response was a curt \u201cno\u201d.<\/p>\n North\u2019s Emma Kearney and coach Darren Crocker with Brisbane\u2019s Bre Koenen and coach Craig Starcevich on Saturday.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Luis Enrique Ascui<\/cite><\/p>\n Despite the disparity in finals experience, the Lions head into the match as underdogs, which skipper Bre Koenen said they\u2019ll take in their stride.<\/p>\n \u201c[We were] probably fairly underrated at the start of the season, probably weren\u2019t expected to get here … to be here now is probably a surprise for everyone, ourselves included,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cSo we\u2019ll just take it within our stride, and we\u2019re here for a reason now. So we\u2019ll give it our best shot.\u201d<\/p>\n The Lions are a far different team to previous grand final sides due to significant list turnover, which included the departure of stars Emily Bates and Greta Bodey to Hawthorn last year, after the Lions lost the premiership decider to Melbourne.<\/p>\n \u201cI think we\u2019ve got a totally different group,\u201d Koenen said. \u201cWe obviously reviewed that game [the grand final loss to Melbourne] shortly after but totally different feel this week, different opposition.<\/p>\n \u201cYou can\u2019t really compare the two, I don\u2019t think, but we\u2019ve looked at that [grand final] in the past and we\u2019ve learned from it, so hopefully we can go one step further this weekend.\u201d<\/p>\n Lions coach Craig Starcevich noted that Koenen, plus the likes of star defender Shannon Campbell and last season\u2019s best-and-fairest winner Ally Anderson appearing in their fifth grand final, and All-Australian winger Sophie Conway in her fourth, would help the team with their preparation and keep them focused and calm.<\/p>\n \u201cThat helps,\u201d he said, adding, \u201cBut essentially, once the game starts, it\u2019s now, \u2018Let\u2019s go, it\u2019s everyone out there to try and win the game\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n Also aiding the Lions\u2019 arsenal is the availability of star goalkicker and All-Australian forward Dakota Davidson, who looked to go down with a serious knee injury in the stirring preliminary final victory over Geelong last weekend.<\/p>\n Starcevich confirmed that Davidson was poised to play on the big day, and she completed the Lions\u2019 final training session.<\/p>\n \u201cLast Saturday night, it was looking a little bit like it was going to be a bad one, but she had a scan pretty soon on the Sunday and got going and trained really strongly \u2026 did the whole set. So, yeah, she\u2019s good to go,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n With both sides having played a myriad of close, important games this season, the Roos and Lions are prepared for the grand final to go down to the wire.<\/p>\n To book their spot in the grand final, the Kangaroos held on against an attacking Adelaide by a mere point, while the Lions squeezed through via a late goal for a four-point victory over Geelong.<\/p>\n North Melbourne captain Emma Kearney said her side had practiced to either win or save a game in the dying minutes.<\/p>\n \u201c[Last weekend] we were able to put into practice a lot of our game state stuff and how we can save the game, and we didn\u2019t do it quite perfectly against Adelaide in the prelim,\u201d said Kearney.<\/p>\n \u201cThere were areas that we can still improve on. But we did it well enough that we were able to hold off their attack that last three minutes.\u201d<\/p>\n Koenen echoed Kearney\u2019s thoughts.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve been training them sort of all year, those instances, and it becomes really important in finals\u201d.<\/p>\n North Melbourne and Brisbane will play in the grand final at 2:30pm on Sunday at Ikon Park.<\/p>\n Keep up to date with the best AFL coverage in the country. <\/i><\/b>Sign up for the Real Footy newsletter<\/i><\/b>.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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