NORTH Melbourne overcame a rollicking mid-game comeback from the Western Bulldogs to win the 2024 rebel VFLW Grand Final by 20 points and claim its maiden premiership.

The Kangaroos prevailed 10.8 (68) to 7.6 (48) in front of a big crowd at ETU Stadium on Sunday, with exciting forward Nyakoat Dojiok winning the Lisa Hardeman Medal with a blistering four-goal performance.

The win capped an incredible rise up the ranks for the Kangaroos, who finished ninth last year and had never played in the rebel VFLW finals before this season. They also overcame a 3-5 start to 2024, winning eight of their last nine games, including three finals, to lift the premiership cup.

North Melbourne blasted the Bulldogs with four unanswered goals to take a 25-point lead at quarter time and stretched the margin to 32 points by the 13-minute mark of the second quarter before the Bulldogs were able to get their teeth into the game.

The Dogs came to life late in the opening half to reduce the margin to 24 points and then dominated the third quarter with 4.2 to 0.2 to level the scores at the final change.

Facing a serious challenge, the Kangaroos responded in premiership fashion, with star forwards Emily Paterno and Dojiok hitting the target within the first four minutes of the final term to restore their side’s buffer.

This time they never looked back as Maddie Di Cosmo turned in a stunning last quarter to play a part in all four of the Kangaroos’ goals.

When Audrey Rhodes nailed a long goal with 10 seconds to go, pandemonium erupted in the North Melbourne camp.

Dojiok put the disappointment of last year’s quiet grand final for Collingwood behind her in devastating fashion, booting three first-half goals and finishing with 4.2 to deservedly claim the Lisa Hardeman Medal for the best player on the ground.

Rhodes, the star midfielder and the VFLW's leading tackler was a close second, leading all comers with 27 disposals, 10 tackles, six clearances and six inside-50s as well as that final goal.

That late goal broke another record for the club that lifted silverware in the 25th anniversary year since the 1999 AFL flag – it’s most recent premiership at any level.

The major took North Melbourne’s score to 10.8 (68), its highest tally against the Bulldogs and the record score in a VFLW Grand Final, topping Darebin’s 9.9 (63) against Melbourne University in the inaugural decider in 2016.

Di Cosmo had nine crucial possessions in the last quarter to finish with 20 for the match, along with 11 tackles and a goal.

Meanwhile, Alana Barba, who won the Lisa Hardeman Medal for Essendon in 2022, ended with 17 touches, 14 tackles and a classic rover’s goal in the second term, capping off the work of ruck Kate Reynolds, who had 38 hitouts to give her midfield first use.

Mara McSweeney starred in defence for the Kangaroos, having 13 disposals and holding dangerous forward Renee Saulitis to just six touches and one goal, while Nic Hales was also tough to get past in her 94th game and captain Jess Jones did important things as she headed into retirement in the best possible way.

Western Bulldogs captain Dom Carbone was clearly her team’s best player and couldn’t have done any more to drag them over the line as she gathered 21 disposals and laid four tackles.

Keeley Hardingham finished with 15 touches, 24 hitouts and a late goal but didn’t quite have the same influence as the rest of a brilliant finals series and Tannah Hurst (15 disposals) turned in another strong effort on the big stage.

Earlier, North Melbourne’s first goal came from Emily Paterno after she marked a lace-out pass from Di Cosmo, and when Dojiok snuck out the back to kick her first, the Roos had a flyer.

That fast start extended through a massive 55m snap from Di Cosmo before Dojiok clunked a contested mark to make it 26-0 after just 13 minutes.

Carbone (nine disposals in the first quarter) and Hardingham were doing their best to keep the Bulldogs in the game but the class of the Kangaroos was too much with Rhodes (seven disposals), Di Cosmo, Matilda Zander and Dojiok (five each) having 22 touches between them to quarter-time.

Saulitis kicked the Bulldogs’ first goal early in the second term when she got out the back and ran in to score from 35m but Dojiok produced a wonderful tap for Barba to goal off a step to give North the immediate response, before winning a fortunate free kick against Courtney Ugle to boot her third and blow the margin out to 32 points.

Mia-Rae Clifford kicked her first Grand Final goal in her third decider from a free kick as the Bulldogs started to gain control, only to miss a couple of chances which kept the margin to 24 at half time.

The third quarter, however, produced a remarkable turnaround as Jaimi Tabb snapped a great goal in the second minute to spark the Bulldogs, with Tallia Pulcino winning two holding-the-ball free kicks in range and kicking 1.1, before Imogen Milford won a free kick in the goal square to cut the margin to a kick.

The Bulldogs’ best passage of play came in the dying stages of the term as Tamsin Crook took an intercept mark in defence and the ball passed through the hands of Ellie Bishop and Milford for Mali McLeod to mark and goal from 30m to level the scores turning for home.

The Bulldogs had all the momentum, but North Melbourne used the break to reset and repeat the first quarter onslaught through Paterno and Dojiok again, before Georgia Nicholas drilled a running goal from 40m to seal it with eight minutes to play.

Hardingham marked and goalled shortly after, but there was no coming back this time and Rhodes put the disappointment of two missed set shots behind her to nail the running shot with the game’s last kick and allow the Kangaroos to join in the most glorious chorus of them all.

2024 rebel VFLW GRAND FINAL

North Melbourne         4.2        6.4        6.6        10.8 (68)
Western Bulldogs        0.1        2.4        6.6        7.6 (48)

GOALS
North Melbourne: N. Dojiok 4, E. Paterno 2, A. Barba, M. Di Cosmo, G. Nicholas, A. Rhodes.
Western Bulldogs: M. Clifford, K. Hardingham, M. McLeod, I. Milford, T. Pulcino, R. Saulitis, J. Tabb.

BEST
North Melbourne: N. Dojiok, A. Rhodes, A. Barba, M. Di Cosmo, M. McSweeney, K. Reynolds, N. Hales
Western Bulldogs: D. Carbone, K. Hardingham, T. Hurst, C. Ugle, T. Pulcino, J. Tabb

LISA HARDEMAN MEDAL VOTING

Jennie Loughnan (AFL Head of State League)
3 - Nyakoat Dojiok (NM)
2 - Audrey Rhodes (NM)
1 - Dom Carbone (WB)

Gemma Bastiani (AFL Media/State of Play host)
3 - Alana Barba (NM)
2 - Maddie Di Cosmo (NM)
1 - Nyakoat Dojiok (NM)

Sean Buncle (Port Melbourne VFLW coach)
3 - Nyakoat Dojiok (NM)
2 - Audrey Rhodes (NM)
1 - Alana Barba (NM)

Kate McCarthy (Channel 7)
3 - Audrey Rhodes (NM)
2 - Nyakoat Dojiok (NM)
1 - Dom Carbone (WB)

Total
9 - Nyakoat Dojiok (NM)
7 - Audrey Rhodes (NM)
4 - Alana Barba (NM)
2 - Dom Carbone (WB)
2 - Maddie Di Cosmo (NM)