Kangaroos’ AFLW success has provided an antidote to the pain of following the men’s side

It hasn’t been easy being a North Melbourne fan in recent times. It hasn’t been any easier having an up close and personal view as a pair of budding Kangaroos fans have taken their first tentative steps, then giant leaps, towards falling in love with the great game and the, admittedly, downtrodden club.

Royal blue and white attire and paraphernalia have been unwrapped as gifts. Scarves and caps have been handed down. Footy cards have been imported into Sydney with the help of family living south of the Barassi Line. Highlights videos of the glory days have been streamed. Former heroes have been unpacked, warts-and-almost-all. Yet many of the essential ingredients that are passed down through generations remain missing.

The Roos might leave their hometown more than any other Melbourne-based club but they rarely visit the Harbour city. Just four matches have been played in front of supporters here in the past five years. It is hard to understand football and all that it entails without feeling the buzz of walking alongside your fans making their way to the ground.

But the greatest void has been the absence of the thrill that comes with holding on in a close one. Storming home to snatch a nail-biter. Blowing away an arch-rival with the sort of football that leaves you wanting more. Simply winning.

After decades of punching above their weight and then refusing to bottom out, North Melbourne have managed a mere 15 wins and a draw in the last five seasons. There have been a historically poor five consecutive bottom-two finishes, a first wooden spoon in 49 years and then another the following season.

The once respected club have become the laughing stock of the competition. Fans have, as always, paid the heaviest price. Frustration has grown. Tears have flowed. The youngest supporters know of nothing else.

But that is only half the story. While the men’s team has floundered, the women’s team has flourished.

View image in fullscreen North Melbourne AFLW star Jasmine Garner celebrates a win with Roos fan Maya Pegan. Photograph: Martin Pegan/The Guardian

Since joining the AFLW in the first wave of expansion in 2019, the Kangaroos have built a team that initially competed with, soon challenged and now crushes the early adopters and traditional powerhouses. The pleasure of watching women rise to become arguably the most dominant AFLW side we have seen has been an antidote to the pain of following men that have forgotten how to win. But it has also been a pleasure all of its own.

The Kangaroos women have become the inspiration for a pre-teenage girl who can now have a realistic dream of one day wearing the royal blue and white stripes on the field. And an obsession for a younger brother who can be invested in sporting success regardless of the acronym sitting on the competition name.

A recent trip to country Victoria saw an unexpected window of free time open up on a Saturday afternoon. A quick scan of the AFLW fixture showed that North Melbourne and Western Bulldogs were set to meet at the club’s spiritual home at Arden Street Oval. The first bounce was two hours away, the car journey to central Melbourne about 10 minutes shorter.

We arrived just in time to hear the ground announcer run through the Kangaroos side as they made their way onto the field. North’s No 7 Ash Riddell received the biggest cheer, at least until No 25 Jasmine Garner was welcomed. The dynamic duo are two of the best players in the competition. They didn’t need to be at their best against the struggling Bulldogs, but they were once again all but equal best afield. Melbourne gave us the full four-seasons-in-one-game experience, including a bucketing downpour at half-time. The Kangaroos were somehow better in the wet than they were in the dry as they cruised away to a 55-point triumph.

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Just under 2,500 fans packed around the fence at Arden Street Oval, including two young fans who saw the Roos win live for the first time in more than five years. The players met their families over the fence, as is the AFLW way, and then supporters decked out in royal blue and white gradually approached. Garner kept her guard up for some selfies but grinned and dropped her usually unflappable demeanour when told that a young girl from interstate wears No 25 in all of the many teams she plays in.

View image in fullscreen North Melbourne AFLW player Kim Rennie with Roos fan Isaak Pegan. Photograph: Martin Pegan/The Guardian

The number of missing ingredients has been reduced. Perhaps the most crucial item on the list can be erased on Saturday night, when North Melbourne take on Brisbane in the AFLW grand final. It will be a rematch of last year’s decider, when the Roos led at every change but were overrun in the final term by the battle-hardened Lions. Another painful lesson learned.

Roos fans that grew up in the 1990s, or even the 1970s, might have taken time to get used to being mocked, disrespected and downright dismissed for the men’s side being uncompetitive and largely unwatchable over the past five years. The youngest supporters know of nothing else. But the Kangaroos women’s side, and the prospect of these trailblazers winning the club’s first AFLW premiership on Saturday night, is something even the youngest fans have already earned.

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