SportABC News & Headlines

North Melbourne's 32-game winning streak over after shock loss to Hawthorn

Hawthorn ended North Melbourne's record 32-game AFLW winning streak with a 7-point upset win in Cairns on Friday night.

North Melbourne has lost for the first time in almost three years, with the two-time defending AFLW premier falling to a shock 7-point defeat to Hawthorn in Cairns.

The Long Sip
What happened

Hawthorn beat North Melbourne by 7 points in Cairns, ending the Kangaroos' historic 32-game unbeaten run in AFLW.

The detail

The win was even more remarkable because Hawthorn played without captain Emily Bates, who had ruptured her ACL the week before.

And then

Lucy Wales snapped the sealing goal inside the last two minutes, sending the Hawks into the weekend on a massive high ahead of the AFL preliminary final.

Full story at ABC News & Headlines

What readers are saying

GlenelgNaveen
The detail that matters here is North's lowest score since 2023 - that's not just a loss, it's a signal their system broke down under specific conditions. Hawthorn exploited the humidity and wind in Cairns to force four straight behinds in the last term, which is a tactical vulnerability North hadn't faced in 32 games. That's the gap to watch going forward.
raj_rhodes
Hawthorn without their captain and still delivering the upset. Impressive.
KoreanAusHyun
North lost their first game in three years and now play again in six days. That's rough timing.
CoastalRod
The absence of Hawthorn captain Emily Bates due to a serious injury makes this result even more significant for the league. Overcoming such a major setback to end a historic winning streak suggests a shift in the competitive depth of the competition.

More from Cuppa

Russians begin voting in parliamentary election set to cement Kremlin's power

Russians have begun three days of voting in a wartime parliamentary election with virtually no opposition, widely expected to cement the Kremlin's grip on power.

Yemen’s anti-Houthi forces launch inquest into sudden military collapse

Yemen's anti-Houthi forces are investigating how their entire west coast military campaign collapsed, with claims that billions of dollars were paid to persuade fighters to abandon their positions.

Tectonic & Haze Crisis 2026

Indonesia is battling a dangerous combination of major earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and El Nino-driven wildfires in 2026, with economic losses estimated up to Rp123 trillion and haze affecting…

How one plume of hot rock built two volcano chains off Australia's coast

Scientists have worked out why two nearly identical volcano chains sit side by side off Australia's east coast: one deep plume split in two around a stalled slab of ocean floor.

Flight chaos for hundreds of thousands was caused in ‘millisecond’ by software error

A software bug in the UK's air traffic control system caused a six-hour outage in a millisecond, disrupting hundreds of thousands of passengers and prompting calls for the CEO to be sacked.

Human brain is two separate organs, new Stanford research finds

Stanford researchers found the human brain is actually two ancient nervous systems joined together, which could help treat diseases like ALS and SMA.

Flight chaos caused by software defect, says air traffic control body

The UK's air traffic control meltdown that cancelled 2,000+ flights was caused by a software defect that corrupted data in a millisecond, not a cyber attack.

Russian hybrid attacks against Europe intensifying, says Macron

French President Macron says Russia's hybrid attacks on Europe have intensified and France will not be intimidated, ordering protection of critical infrastructure.

Back to the feed