The emotions immediately after a Grand Final are always at their highest.

Continue below as a host of stars from North Melbourne’s historic first women’s premiership victory spoke to VFL reporter Brendan Rhodes following the 20-point win over the Western Bulldogs at ETU Stadium.

Nyakoat Dojiok

(Lisa Hardeman medallist)

"We really wanted to fight out there today.

"Obviously with the Grand Final (loss with Collingwood) last year, the heartbreak really drove us girls who moved over to North to just go that one per cent better, so it was really good to see the result go our way today.

"Moving over has just been amazing. All the staff, the supporters have been humongous for us girls, and to make it here is just extra special.

"The message (at three-quarter time) was to just keep playing our way, nothing changes, because we knew they were going to come at us. It's a Grand Final so nothing was going to come easy for us.

Jess Jones

(Retiring premiership captain)

"No words can describe it. What a way to get here and I just couldn't be prouder of the girls.

"We just knew they were going to come hard, so we've been prepping game day scenarios all week – what do we do when we're down, what do we do if they come back, what do we do if they get a good start, so it was just training for it.

"It's official, I am done, I'm going out on this high."

Emily Paterno

(12 disposals, two goals)

"It's incredible. I just knew the girls would fight it out, no matter what.

"Obviously they came back a bit in the third, but we just trusted each other and knew we were going to grind it out and get it done – and that's what happened. But credit to the Doggies, they put up a bloody good fight.

"(Kicking the first goal of the game and the first of the last quarter) was all a bit of a blur in the moment, but I'm sure I'll look back on it fondly and just be glad they went through."

Maddie Di Cosmo

(20 disposals, one goal)

"I'm lost for words – and breath – but I'm just so proud of the group of girls and all the coaching staff.

"Halfway through the season we were second bottom on the ladder, so our resilience and persistence and hard work just to get into the finals and then just the hard work throughout the whole final series to get into the Grand Final was amazing.

"The way we played today I can't fault anyone's effort.

"It was definitely a hard decision (to move from Carlton). I had so many great relationships and I loved my time there. I just moved for a fresh start, a bit more opportunity and coming to North I made so many more relationships and I wouldn't change it."

Alana Barba

(17 disposals, one goal)

"It's surreal, I'm still a bit speechless, but to do that with one of my best friends (Renee Tierney) is pretty incredible, not everyone gets to say that. I'm really proud of her and what we've been able to achieve together and I can't wait to see what else we can do.

"In the third quarter we went a bit away from our game and we kind of got dictated to by the Dogs, and then in the fourth quarter we just knew we had to go back to our game. The handball chains are our strength so we got back to that and were lucky enough to hit the scoreboard a few more times and win the game."

Renee Tierney

(2022 Essendon VFLW premiership player with Alana Barba)

"It was two very different grand finals and the way (Alana and I) felt about each of them have been very different journeys.

"We've got to do this one together again, which has been really nice and we've met a good bunch of people and we were able to finish it off.

"We were just trying to focus quarter by quarter and obviously we let them come back, but we just knew (at three-quarter time) we had 20 more minutes to leave everything out there.

"None of us wanted to walk away without that medal around our neck, so I think we just were able to play our game in that last quarter and I think our handball game broke the game open."

Mara McSweeney

(13 disposals, held Renee Saulitis to one goal)

"It's amazing. It has gone from making North's first finals and suddenly into a Grand Final, so it is very surreal but it has been amazing.

"Before Round 8 we were 11th or something and we just kind of kept working at it, stuck to our structures and everything just rolled in at the right time.

"(The Bulldogs) are a good team. They've got really good forwards and we knew coming into this that they were going to play a good kick-mark game. They've got incredible skills and we had to really respect them so we’re pretty proud of the way we went about it."

Sarah King

(Co-captain and gameday runner)

On carrying a car tyre in celebrations: "Early on in the season, (coach) Brett (Gourley) had come home from his holiday and he'd had a puncture in the tyre and he was getting really frustrated about it.

"Then he had a moment to stop, focus on the process of actually changing that tyre rather than just thinking about what it was going to be like once the tyre was on. He used it to teach us about trusting the process and being in the moment and enjoying it all.

"It's definitely disappointing not to be on the ground, but with this team the spots are so competitive and I could not be happier for this whole team. It takes a whole squad to win a flag and I’m so proud of every single person that has worked hard to get this list to where we are."