North Melbourne’s VFLW side has registered its first win of the 2022 campaign, defeating a spirited Williamstown side by 34 points at Arden Street Oval on Sunday.

The Kangaroos dominated proceedings, registering 14 scoring shots to five, and coach Steph Binder says the performance is a result of her side’s improvement over the course of the season so far.

“We’ve spoken a lot about playing the ‘North way’, trusting our structures and playing as a team, and that’s what we did,” Binder told North Media.

“We were able to get the ball out into space, control it with our skill and maintain our composure. We went in with a game plan and we executed it really well.”

Alice O’Loughlin did her chances of a recall into the senior side for this weekend’s AFLW qualifying final no harm, finishing the game with two goals and four tackles in a strong display of forward craft.

“Alice was great. She kicked a few points early in the game, but she just stayed so dangerous and managed to really impact the scoreboard as the game went on,” Binder said.

“Her pressure acts were really good as well. There were a few chase-down tackles and her ability to defend let us lock it in the front half and put pressure on Williamstown’s defence with repeat entries.

Tess Craven continued her strong development at reserve level and also finished the clash with two goals.

Binder says after missing out on match play due to the unaligned AFLW and VFLW season, Craven is very quickly returning to her best form.

“Tess just has the composure of someone much older. She’s so smooth and she’s always in the right position. Today we could really trust that when she had the ball she would lower her eyes and hit her targets,” she said.

“I coached her at Vic Country before she got drafted and I love having her in the team. She’s such a reliable player and she showed that today.”

After making her return to football in this season’s VFLW competition, Britt Gibson once again not only presented a strong target in the forward 50 for the Kangaroos, but her experience has proved crucial in helping improve her teammates.

“Gibbo’s ability to lead, present and give us options up forward has been so good since she’s come into the side,” Binder said.

“We know she’s always going to impact the contest and bring the ball to ground, and that’s if she doesn’t take the mark.

“She looks so dangerous every time she goes near it, and once those kicks on goal start dropping she’ll definitely kick a bag.

“She offers something else up forward for us that we were missing and she’s played a really important role in the team’s development.”

Liz McGrath was a dominant force in the ruck and finished the clash with a game-high 30 hitouts, almost double the total of all three Williamstown players who registered at least one hitout in the clash.

Binder says while McGrath was a brutal presence in the contest, her contributions were far more than just at centre bounces.

“This was a really big game for Liz. She was coming up against her old side so she was pretty nervous at first,” Binder said.

“Her ability to not only dominate in the ruck, but follow up and ground level and earn front position in the contest make her such an important part of this team.

“She’s just an absolute workhorse and she gave us so much more than just pure ruckwork.”

After missing North’s Round 4 clash with Darebin, Jess Jones earned a recall to the side for the Williamstown clash and emerged from the game as one of her team’s top performers.

Holding down a role in the backline, Binder says Jones’ ability to hit targets helped keep the Kangaroos on the front foot.

“‘JJ’ was omitted from the team last week, but she went away and did everything we asked her to do to get back in. She just loves the education side of the game and puts in so much work,” she said.

“The thing we needed from our backs is the ability to swivel the head, switch the ball and move the ball out to the other side. ‘JJ’ finished the game with 100 per cent efficiency.

“That’s an area she’s needed to work on, but she’s taken all the feedback on board and she was just rock solid for us.”

The Kangaroos will look to continue their momentum in the second half of the season, however a bye awaits them this weekend.

Binder says experiencing the first win of the year gives her side a platform to improve from.

“Even though we’ve got a bye coming up we’ll train as normal. The focus for us now is going to be not taking a backwards step,” she said.

“Now we know how it feels when we play the ’North way’ and we need to consolidate that.

“We’ll maintain our approach and aim to get stronger and better each week.”

NORTH MELBOURNE 6.8 (44)
WILLIAMSTOWN 1.4 (10)

AFLW-listed player stats

Alice O’Loughlin - 11 disposals, 4 tackles, 2 goals, 3 behinds
Brittany Gibson - 11 disposals, 5 marks, 2 behinds
Jess Duffin - 21 disposals, 10 marks
Tess Craven - 19 disposals, 2 goals
Ella Maurer - 19 disposals, 6 inside 50s, 4 clearances
Lexi Hamilton - 13 disposals, 6 marks, 7 hitouts, 2 goals
Amy Smith - 17 disposals, 4 tackles

VFLW-listed player stats (selected)

Liz McGrath - 15 disposals, 30 hitouts, 4 clearances
Jess Mourney - 18 disposals, 2 clearances
Jess Jones - 8 disposals, 5 marks, 100 per cent disposal efficiency
Ashlea Melnikas - 5 disposals, 7 tackles