Signs ridiculous 32-win streak is ‘vulnerable’; AFLW’s big Fish trade problem exposed — Talking Points

Why North Melbourne’s record winning streak has never looked more “vulnerable” … yet a big Fish looms. Plus “missed opportunities” in the fixture exposed and a young Sun soars.

Fox Footy experts break down the big topics in foxfooty.com.au’s post-Round 5 edition of AFLW Talking Points!

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‘VULNERABLE’: WHY ROOS SLIP-UP LOOMS

One of footy’s great winning streaks is “vulnerable”, according to Fox Footy commentator Kelli Underwood, who’s suggested a loss for North Melbourne is “just around the corner”.

The all-conquering Kangaroos on Sunday extended their record-breaking winning run to 32 consecutive matches … but only just, going down to top-four contenders Carlton by eight points in front of a record AFLW crowd at Arden St.

Carlton held North to 4.9 (33) – the Roos’ lowest score since Round 5 in 2024 – as Matthew Buck’s fearless side took it right up to their more-fancied opponents, with their pressure, desire and effort troubling North all day.

“I think there’ll be a few opposition teams sitting up and taking notice of what Carlton was able to do,” CODE Sports reporter Lauren Wood told Fox Footy’s The W Debrief.

North’s narrow win came just hours after Melbourne maintained its perfect start to the season – and three weeks after Brisbane pushed the Kangaroos at Springfield, only to fall 11 points short.

Speaking on Fox Footy on Sunday night, Underwood said the race for this year’s flag might not be a one-horse affair after all.

Underwood pointed out the Kangaroos play top-four contenders Hawthorn, Melbourne and Sydney across the next three weeks, with the clash against the Demons coming a week after the Roos fly back from a Cairns trip to face the Hawks.

“I think they’re really vulnerable in the next three weeks,” Underwood told The W Debrief.

“You’re trying to work out if it (North’s winning streak) is good for the competition or not. It’s the best women’s football team in the land, so get out and go and see them.

“But it feels like a loss is around the corner.”

Asked if the Kangaroos were beatable, All-Australian Port Adelaide star Matilda Scholz told Fox Footy: “I’d like to say they’re beatable, but they are a very good side.

“They’ve got to be beatable at some point. Three years (undefeated) is a crazy amount of time.”

Scholz spoke hours after the Power suffered a 51-point loss to Melbourne at Casey Fields.

The Demons are the only other undefeated team remaining in the AFLW this year. • They’ve scored at least 60 points in each of their first five games, winning by an average margin of 42 points.

“It’ll be interesting to see what Melbourne can do. If they play the way they played today, they could definitely bring it to North,” Scholz said of the Demons.

“They are a very strong side. They work really well together and they have players all around the ground they can use. They move the ball really well, they’re quick, they’re skilful, their fundamentals are unreal.

“Of course I love Port Adelaide, but if you’re a new AFLW fan, watching a Melbourne game – I hate to say it – but they’re really good.”

Women’s footy pioneer and Fox Footy expert Chyloe Kurdas said Melbourne’s array of tall players – Tahlia Gillard, Georgia Campbell, Georgia Gall, Molly O’Hehir, Taylor Harris, Mia Austin and Alyssa Bannan – can “stretch opposition with height”. Kurdas added the return of on-baller Olivia Purcell – who’s averaged 31.6 disposals and 7.2 score involvements so far this season – from injury had been significant.

“She’s just had an extraordinary season with her ability to win the footy,” Kurdas told foxfooty.com.au.

“What that’s done is just freed up Tyla Hanks to be more damaging as well.”

UPSIDE – AND DOWNSIDE – TO ROOS’ BIG FISH CHASE

However North Melbourne’s sustained success is clearly helping it in the trade space.

A year after landing No.1 pick Kristie-Lee Weston-Turner, two years after trading in Elish Sheerin, three years after acquiring Libby Birch and four years after signing Kate Shierlaw, the Kangaroos have emerged as a strong potential suitor for Swans star Zippy Fish, per AFL Media’s Riley Beveridge.

Fish has been a revelation for Sydney since being taken with Pick 4 in the 2024 draft. She won the 2025 AFLW Rising Star award, represented Australia against Ireland in the international game last month and played all 17 games since making her debut in Round 1, 2025.

But the prospect of one of the competition’s best young players joining a team on a 32-match winning streak is a jarring thought for many.

Kurdas said she could see all sides of the story.

“What is really good for the competition is you’ve got the best young talent in the competition wanting and seeing there’s an optimal way of doing women’s football within an AFL club environment,” Kurdas said. “I think that’s only natural that the best wants to go and be amongst the best culture, the best structure, the best process.

“What is not good for the competition is there’s a sense it’s North Melbourne then daylight and then there’s a smattering of others that have got a whole-club mentality where there’s complete buy-in from the whole club. I don’t think we see enough of that consistently across the whole competition where the whole club is invested in the women’s program in a really balanced and equitable way.”

Fish recently spoke of her enjoyment playing under Darren Crocker for the Australia-Ireland clash, describing the dual premiership Kangaroos coach to AFL Media as “just a big girl-dad, laughing and cracking jokes”.

Kurdas said the Fish-Roos link was “only natural” after the international match at North Sydney Oval.

“Often what happens in representative football, you get a great coach heading up a team and you get to play under that person and you go: ‘Geez, what could my footy look like under you?’ So ‘Crock’ is also part of that draw card,” Kurdas said.

“He’s a great coach who really respects women, he understands his own gaps and he does his own work on being the best coach of women, not just the best coach of footballers that he can be. So it’s no surprise that she’s had a week’s exposure to him and she’s like, ‘Yeah, maybe that’s the place that I want to be.’

“Is it the desire to be in Melbourne and play in Melbourne and be part of the Melbourne AFL culture? That’s certainly something Sydney can’t compete with. In fact, Sydney has long positioned itself as the antithesis of that and that’s been something that’s really appealing for a lot of players, male and female, now.

“But if she’s looking for a good culture, a club that’s on the rise where recruitment is positive and you can build something together and go on the journey together, she’s in a place where she can get that with Sydney.”

CONTENDERS’ MAJOR INJURY BLOWS

Top-four contenders Hawthorn and Sydney are bracing for significant injury blows to some of their best and most important players.

Hawthorn star Emily Bates went down with a serious knee injury during the third term in her side’s hard-fought win over the Western Bulldogs.

The game came to a halt as Bates was tended to by trainers after the midfielder’s right knee was caught underneath her while being tackled.

The triple All-Australian could be seen in pain as she was stretchered off the ground.

Wood, who was on the boundary for Fox Footy in Dingley on Saturday, said Bates would have scans in the coming days to determine the severity of her injury.

“I was about two metres to the left on the boundary and I’ve never felt the oxygen get sucked out of a venue like it was at Dingley,” Wood told The W Debrief.

“There were initial fears it could’ve been knee and ankle at one stage … but the ankle looks fine.

“We know her season was cruelled by that horrific collarbone and shoulder injury last year. She’s had no luck … she’s a staunch leader of that Hawthorn outfit as the skipper.

“They rallied in trying circumstances to get the win, but no one wants to see the stars of the competition going down like this.”

Meanwhile, a gruesome injury to gun midfielder Sofia Hurley soured Sydney’s emphatic 31-point derby win over the Giants.

Hurley had the equal-most disposals for the match (25) when she went down awkwardly in a tackle early in the fourth quarter. It left her ankle pointing in the wrong direction, prompting a green whistle as she was stretchered off the ground after a significant break in play.

Hurley was in good spirits as she left the ground waving to her teammates and smiling, but initial vision didn’t look promising for the rest of her season.

The Swan was transported to hospital in an ambulance.

“You could see that the wind kind of got sucked out of us in the last 10 minutes,” Swans coach Colin O’Riordan said post-match.

“For those who don’t know, (Hurley) is one of the people who (walks) into the room and lights it up. That’s the impact she has on her group and how much we value her.”

‘MISSED OPPORTUNITIES’ EXPOSED

With just three AFL matches left this year, the AFLW competition now has fixture free air.

But Underwood believes there’s still been “a couple of missed opportunities when it comes to the scheduling”.

Despite the two AFL semi-finals being scheduled for Friday night and Saturday night, no Round 5 AFLW matches were scheduled for Thursday last week.

“Last Thursday night, (fans) settle in for the night, they’re familiar with seeing football on a Thursday night on the TV – and there was no women’s game fixtured. That felt like a missed opportunity,” Underwood said.

“Even waiting for the game in the west when Fremantle hosted Geelong on Friday night and it was an 8.10pm start in Melbourne, it was like: ‘Let’s put a women’s game in! There’s a slot there for it.’”

Underwood then looked ahead to the traditional AFLW slate of games on AFL Grand Final Eve, which will feature a double-header at Ikon Park. A Carlton-Richmond clash will begin at 4.05pm (AEST) before a blockbuster North Melbourne-Melbourne match … beginning at 7.15pm.

“It’s a double-header, so it is the right idea … (but) let’s move it to Marvel, it should be there.

“But there’s more than an hour’s break between the two games. Now I’m sure the AFL will give us a reason why, that reason’s crap.

“When they played the Giants-Eagles and the women’s came on after the men’s, it was 20 minutes after. There’s no reason why we have to wait so long.

“I would ideally like to see on Grand Final Eve after the parade, let’s go and do a mini-Gather Round at Marvel Stadium and play the three or four games in a row. Throw open the gates, a celebration of footy so you can sit there on a Friday night and watch some quality women’s football when everyone’s just hanging for some footy to be played.”

Wood added: “Especially on a weekend, when you look at the men’s side of things, where there’s only two teams in, there’s 16 other teams hanging to watch their team play that weekend.

“Melbourne is absolutely pumping on that Friday. You’ve got the Grand Final parade happening at Yarra Park, take the kids in, jump on the tram, head down to Marvel Stadium. Three games, people can float in and out … I think it’s something that at least has to be looked at by AFL HQ.”

‘THAT WAS CRAZY!’: YOUNG SUN’S STUNNING TAKE

And did we see the best mark ever in the AFLW on the weekend?

If it wasn’t the best, it’d be on the podium, surely.

First-year Sun Dekota Baron gave us a taste of her high-flying talent on Saturday afternoon, leaping into the Gold Coast sky to pull down an early mark of the year contender.

In just her second AFLW game, Baron spectacularly leapt over teammate Anne Hatchard and Collingwood defender Violet Patterson, grasped the Sherrin and hit the People First Stadium turf hard.

It was a mark that left Fox Footy commentators gobsmacked.

“That was crazy! What a mark,” dual All-Australian Meg McDonald said in commentary.

“I just love the run and jump. She gets herself in great position and the entry is great to her.”

It led Underwood on Sunday night to compare Baron’s mark with Scholz’s brilliant grab in 2024, which was adjudged the mark of the year.

“Matilda’s mark is the best mark we’ve ever seen, but that is a clear No.2,” Underwood said.

Baron’s grab, however, would’ve come as no surprise to her fellow Suns academy graduates.

“There’s something insane about the way that she plays,” fellow first-round draftee Sunny Lappin told foxfooty.com.au in October last year.

“The way she flies for the ball, the way she sees the footy in the air and is prepared to jump on anybody’s heads is so incredible and I think that’s something that not a lot of girls in the AFLW are doing now.”

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