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North Melbourne captain Emma Kearney likes playing on the edge. It\u2019s how she delivers her best footy, going toe to toe and sledge for sledge with her opponents, in their faces and never taking a backward step.<\/p>\n
Her latest impassioned footy moments came in the preliminary final against Adelaide last weekend, when she got stuck into Crows stars Ebony Marinoff and Danielle Ponter.<\/p>\n
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North Melbourne skipper Emma Kearney doesn\u2019t take a backward step.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Jason South<\/cite><\/p>\n \u201cWhen I don\u2019t feel like I\u2019ve got that anger in me, I don\u2019t tend to be playing my best,\u201d says Kearney, admitting to a case of white-line fever.<\/p>\n \u201cSo, if I can get onto that edge that\u2019s when I feel like I\u2019m at my best.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s obviously a line that I don\u2019t want to cross and at times you can get close to that, but I think for me, it\u2019s just about knowing my arousal levels and how I can either calm myself down or bring myself up if I need to.\u201d<\/p>\n The 34-year-old stalwart is a premiership player, league best and fairest and eight-time All-Australian. She\u2019s also known for being one of the loudest on the field.<\/p>\n One of her favourite sledges was asking a prominent player if she\u2019d been to the Olympics because she was so good at diving. And in her first year with the Western Bulldogs, she told a young cross-code basketballer \u201cI can move, but you can\u2019t\u201d at a centre ball-up.<\/p>\n The toughness of the game, including its physicality and endless running, means there are times when the agitation and emotions are high, Kearney noting that it\u2019s frequently seen in the men\u2019s game, too.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd sometimes you want to let those emotions out, and I think that\u2019s all part of it,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n It\u2019s not just rivals who can experience a verbal from Kearney. From half-back, the skipper will often be pointing her hands and yelling at her teammates to set them up across the park.<\/p>\n North Melbourne captain Emma Kearney and Adelaide\u2019s Danielle Ponter.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Getty<\/cite><\/p>\n \u201cI can be harsh on my players if they\u2019re not doing some of the things that they have been instructed to do,\u201d she admits.<\/p>\n But she is also the first to follow up with them, educate them and, when it\u2019s needed, wrap her arms around them. It\u2019s part of what makes her a good leader, according to teammate and ruck Kim Rennie.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve definitely copped a fair share of Kearney\u2019s on-field love, and whatever you want to call it,\u201d laughs Rennie.<\/p>\n \u201cBut I mean I feel that Kearns has got my back out there, and I equally would have hers as well, like the rest of the players. It\u2019s everything you could ask for in a captain and a leader \u2026 [We\u2019re] very grateful and lucky to have that.\u201d<\/p>\n North Melbourne captain Emma Kearney with men\u2019s coach Alastair Clarkson<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Jason South<\/cite><\/p>\n Before joining the Kangaroos in 2019, Kearney was a teacher but her classroom is now the footy field, where she coaches in the men\u2019s program under Alastair Clarkson and captains the women\u2019s side.<\/p>\n She was 28 when she took over as skipper, a role she didn\u2019t necessarily see for herself when younger.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m quite a quiet type of person, which probably shocks a lot of people because they sort of make judgments from what they see on field,\u201d says Kearney.<\/p>\n \u201cI probably never saw myself as a leader growing up because I was so shy and quiet.\u201d<\/p>\n Emma Kearney addresses her playing group.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Getty<\/cite><\/p>\n Now, she has embraced the role and enjoys the relationship-building side of leading, and helping younger players become better footballers.<\/p>\n Then there\u2019s the fact that she\u2019s helming the club she loves to their maiden grand final and a potential premiership.<\/p>\n Last Monday night, when Kearney made her eighth consecutive All-Australian team at the W awards, she continued her streak of being the only player to receive the honour in every season in the AFLW\u2019s history.<\/p>\n Rennie, who was part of the Western Bulldogs\u2019 2018 premiership side with Kearney, feels fortunate to have watched her leadership grow since she was a pup.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you kind of step back and look at it, it\u2019s pretty incredible that you [North\u2019s players] get to train and play with Kearns every week,\u201d said Rennie.<\/p>\n While Kearney, also a former Melbourne Stars cricketer, acknowledged her unmatched run as a significant achievement, she says she\u2019ll reflect properly on it at the end of her career. And hopefully by then, there will be a second premiership medal, too.<\/p>\n While North will experience their first AFLW grand final on Sunday at Ikon Park, their opponents, Brisbane, are playing in their fifth premiership decider. The Lions are the only team the Roos have yet to beat this year.<\/p>\n \u201cThe knock on North Melbourne has always been the fact that we can\u2019t beat the top three, the big three, as they call them. And we\u2019ve knocked over the big two. We\u2019ve got one more to go,\u201d says Kearney.<\/p>\n \u201cWe know that when we can play our best, dirty footy, we can beat anyone.\u201d<\/p>\n Keep up to date with the best AFL coverage in the country. <\/i><\/b>Sign up for the Real Footy newsletter<\/i><\/b>.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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