Overview
- The home-and-away season finished over the weekend with North Melbourne claiming a third straight minor premiership after a 68-point win over Richmond and Geelong sealing second with a 68-point victory over the Western Bulldogs.
- Melbourne secured third and will face Geelong in a qualifying final while the remaining finals positions were fixed by the final-round results.
- Jacqueline Parry returned from injury to kick five goals and finish the home-and-away season as the leading goalkicker on 26, and Georgie Prespakis dominated Geelong’s midfield with 30 touches and eight clearances.
- Gold Coast beat GWS but missed the top four by 0.2 percentage points, leaving the Suns outside the double chance and shifting their finals path to an elimination-style route.
- Off-field and player-availability developments include an AFL clarification that Rachel Kearns’s high-profile double solo breached the rules and should have drawn a Bulldogs free kick, retirements for Isabel Huntington and Alicia Eva, and a late shoulder knock to Melbourne captain Kate Hore that the coach said will be monitored ahead of the finals.