The 1996 premiership triumph is not just a historic moment for the North Melbourne Football Club, but it’s a massive moment in the history of the AFL.

North Melbourne triumphed over the Sydney Swans in the centenary Grand Final, meaning the Kangaroos remain the only club to have lifted a gold premiership cup. Due to last year's COVID-affected clash, North is celebrating the 25-year anniversary of the triumph this season.

The expectation heading into the final two weeks of the 1996 campaign was that it would be North Melbourne and Essendon contesting the big dance. While Sydney had finished the season as minor premiers, they had finished 12th in the season prior. North Melbourne and Essendon had, however, started to put a number of strong seasons together.

The Kangaroos waltzed into the Grand Final courtesy of a 38-point win over the Brisbane Bears in the preliminary final - the Bears' final ever game before they merged with Fitzroy, while a Tony Lockett behind after the siren saw Sydney defeat the Bombers by just one point to earn their place in the decider.

The lead-up to the Grand Final was dominated by the potential Tribunal case of Sydney’s Andrew Dunkley, who had been reported in the preliminary final for striking Essendon’s James Hird. The Swans eventually received an injunction from the Supreme Court meaning the case would not be heard until after the Grand Final. The Tribunal’s verdict was that Dunkley was to be suspended for the first three weeks of the 1997 season.

North Melbourne Kangaroos line-up

Sydney Swans line-up

Sydney jumped out to a strong lead in the first term and were a step ahead of the Kangaroos at seemingly every contest, however a drastic second-quarter turnaround led by Glenn Freeborn’s miraculous three-goal term saw North head into the main break with a slender two-point lead.

It was the third quarter, the premiership quarter, in which the Kangaroos steadied the ship to kick away from their opposition. North kicked four goals to one in the term, courtesy of majors from Peter Bell and Darren Crocker and two to Craig Sholl.

Anthony Stevens and Mark Roberts kicked the first two goals of the fourth quarter to effectively kill the game off. There was one last amazing moment to be had though, with long-term North Melbourne servant Ian Fairley drifting forward in the final moments to kick a goal with his final kick in AFL football. As a star of the struggling North sides of the late 1980s, nobody deserved a Grand Final moment more.

Wayne Carey was kept relatively quiet by his lofty standards, finishing with 18 disposals and a goal, but a number of Roos stepped up to fill the void left by their heavily tagged captain.

Veteran Darren Crocker stepped up with three crucial goals over the contest, with two of them keeping North within touching distance of a rampant Sydney. Craig Sholl kicked three goals of his own. Anthony Rock was a bullocking presence in midfield and Corey McKernan showed why he was awarded the Leigh Matthews Trophy earlier in the season with an exceptional display.

Despite all of these brilliant performances it was a hard-nosed 25-year-old defender by the name of Glenn Archer who would win the Norm Smith Medal. He displayed all of the attributes that would lead him to become a 300-game player and Shinboner of the Century in this crucial game, with his willingness to compete, never-say-die attitude and aggression in the contest leaving his opponents trembling.

This triumphant Kangaroos side was filled with players who have gone onto become club legends. Carey has gone down as arguably the greatest player in the game's history. Archer was at one point the club's games record holder and will forever be the Shinboner of the Century. Crocker continues to give back to the club as the AFLW senior coach.

Anthony Stevens' willingness to fight through pain has become legendary. Adam Simpson went on to become one of the club's longest ever serving captains. Dani Laidley is now a trailblazer of our game.

Throw in players like Ian Fairley, Peter Bell, Mick Martyn, Wayne Schwass, Glenn Freeborn and John Blakey. There are too many to name, but every player who competed for North Melbourne in this drought-breaking premiership has their name written in club folklore.