It’s the third grand final round of the heavyweight match-up between the AFLW’s two best teams of recent years, but only 12,000 fans will see North and Brisbane duke it out in Melbourne on Saturday.

As the Lions plot to end the Kangaroos’ 26-game undefeated streak and wrestle back the AFLW crown they won in 2023, the decider at Ikon Park in Carlton has been overshadowed by calls for the match to be played at a bigger venue such as Marvel Stadium which has a capacity of 53,000.

Channel Seven AFLW expert commentator Kate McCarthy is adamant the AFL is short-changing the AFLW and its fans by opting for a smaller ground so that they can boast of it being a sold-out event.

A record AFLW crowd of more than 53,000 attended the 2019 grand final at Adelaide Oval.

But the league, now in its 10th season, has endured fluctuating attendances and television ratings in recent years.

“This game should be played at Marvel. We’ve sold out. I don’t see why we’re locking fans out of going to a game that’s developing, for three years in a row, we’re only allowing 12,000 people to go to the biggest game of the year, and accepting that that’s just where we’re at,” she told The Nightly.

“I also argue that a 30,000 seat full Marvel Stadium, if you have the two lower tiers filled, I don’t see how that’s a worse atmosphere than playing at Ikon Park. I don’t see how 30,000 people watching the game or even 25,000 I don’t see how that’s not better than only allowing 12,000 people at a game of football.

“It doesn’t make sense that you will exclude people having a ticket or from going to the game by simply not allowing the girls to play at a big event because they want sell-outs. Don’t lock out fans from going by not moving it to a bigger venue.”

That sounds like maybe the tickets were drip-fed so they couldn’t sell out so quickly, so there’s less of an argument for annoying people, like me, who say there is demand for more seats at a grand final.

McCarthy went one step further on Triple M on Friday, accusing the AFL of “drip-feeding tickets” so the match did not sell out too quickly this week.

“The interesting thing is the first two (at Ikon Park) sold out in a matter of hours. This somehow took three days. I got online on Monday night to get tickets and couldn’t get my hands on any. I checked back on Wednesday night, and there were a few more tickets available,” she said.

“That sounds like maybe the tickets were drip-fed so they couldn’t sell out so quickly, so there’s less of an argument for annoying people, like me, who say there is demand for more seats at a grand final.”

League boss Emma Moore said the AFLW grand final will only be moved to Marvel Stadium when she is confident the game would sell out.

North Melbourne premiership coach Darren Crocker isn’t convinced the AFLW grand final would draw a large enough crowd to justify being played at Marvel Stadium.

“We love playing here to a packed stadium and we get great support here,” Crocker said on Friday.

“When the game can actually justify filling a Marvel Stadium, I think that’s the time to move it.

“I’m not too sure whether that’s right now, but I know the players would love to play at Marvel one day, when the game can sustain filling that,” he said.

“And I’m sure as coaches we’d love to coach there. But whether we could sell that out at this stage, I’m not too sure.”

North Melbourne superstar Jasmine Garner hopes the AFLW can build to a point where the decider warrants being played at Marvel Stadium.“We would all love to play at Marvel. Watching the men’s games on TV, it’s just a great stadium,” Garner said. “But at the same time I know we’ll get a lot of North supporters here tomorrow night.

“For the time being, we love playing here, but hopefully one day we can pack out Marvel as well.”

After thrashing Brisbane in the 2024 grand final, the Lions will be looking to hit back through rising stars like Courtney Hodder but they will have their work cut out stopping AFLW superstar duo Garner and 2025 Best and Fairest winner Ash Riddell.

North were pushed to the limit by 2022 flag winner Melbourne in last week’s preliminary final with Garner kicking the match-winning goal in the 10-point win.

McCarthy believes that close win would be what Crocker would have hoped for in part so that they didn’t go into the grand final on the back of yet another easy win.

North’s domination of the league has been criticised for turning off fans, but McCarthy said their excellence lifted the calibre of the league.

“I think we wouldn’t have got a game like we got last weekend in the prelim from Melbourne, if North weren’t dominant as they are,” she said.

“I think it’s challenging teams to rise up to their level, and I think teams are going to have to really improve really quickly to be able to beat them.

“I don’t think you can begrudge North for building a really good program and reaping the rewards of it.”

If they win their second flag in a row with their 27th game undefeated in two years, after drawing a game in 2024, the Kangaroos deserve to be in the conversation as one of the nation’s greatest teams.

“I think people get really funny when you try and compare other sports to each other, and very, very funny when you try and compare women’s footy to men’s footy,” McCarthy said.

“But if they go 27 games in a row that’s pretty incredible, without even having to compare to any other sport. That is a feat that probably won’t be repeated, especially AFLW.

“I think they would deserve a lot of flowers in the sense that they’ve been probably the most successful women’s footy team.”

The Roos’ success was no accident and the club was enjoying the success its men’s team would kill for because of strong foundations.

“They’ve got a really good program. Also, they’ve had a lot of stability in their coaching staff. They’ve had a lot of stability in their playing group,” McCarthy said.

McCarthy believes Hodder, who earned her first All-Australian jacket this week, could be the key to ending the Roos’ dynasty. “I think Courtney Hodder is the big one. She’s the one that could do sort of what Jas Garner does in moments, and take the game away from them in a really quick period of time,” she said.

“The other thing about the Lions is they thrive on being underdogs, they would absolutely love the build-up to this, as no one has given them a chance. Most people think they’re just making up the numbers and are going in to just compete and offer a bit of resistance to North who are going to go on their way and win a flag and that’s when they thrive as a team. Some teams can’t, but Brisbane make that almost their MO going into this game.”

Brisbane’s midfielders have spoken about shutting down Riddell and Garner this week but McCarthy warned focusing all the attention on those two players would allow other North players to strike.

“I don’t think you can take those two out of the game and expect to get the job done just because you’re taking care of two very good players,” she said.

“But we saw with Melbourne last week, if the pressure is forcing them to do things that maybe they haven’t had to do all season, because it’s a closer game, or it’s a hot footy, you have a chance.

“I think if Jas probably didn’t have the quarter she had in the fourth quarter, we might be sitting here talking about a different team that’s playing in the grand final. It’s those big, big moments.

“And then the teams have got so much history, they have played each other a lot. But North is just so relentless in what they do, and they’re able to sustain the arm wrestle for so long. If you’re off for half a quarter or a whole quarter, they will make you pay.”

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