When the final siren of the AFLW Grand Final echoed across Princes Park on Saturday night, there was a tinge of sadness mixed with a sense of relief and joy for Mia King.
The 24-year-old Jawoyn woman, whose country surrounds the Katherine Gorge but grew up in Launceston's suburbs, witnessed North Melbourne capture back-to-back AFLW titles.
King was a part of the Kangaroos' inaugural 2024 premiership victory however was forced to watch her side's 40-point hammering of Brisbane from the sidelines.
The inside on-baller was declared fit ahead of the grand final after sitting out just 50 days from a posterior cruciate ligament injury.
Kangaroos coach Darren Crocker made the tough call to leave King out, deeming it "too big a risk" to include her in a lineup which had won 27 consecutive games dating back to early last year.
King was undoubtedly the most obvious hard-luck - among 20 feel-good stories - coming out of Arden Street.
Yet despite a direct influence on the game in the form of a possession, a hardball get, a tackle or a smother, King was embraced in the moments after the siren as one of the side's key superstars on a level akin to veteran captain Emma Kearney or its 2025 AFLW best and fairest medallist, Ash Riddell.
Crocker was one of the first to hug King, reassuring she was a "big part of it" before nearly every North player joined a queue to closely hold her, who alternated between smiling, nodding and shedding a tear.
"Love you so much," lip readers picked up Crocker saying.
"Couldn't have got there without you."
After the emotion died down, teammates lined up again to pay tribute to King courtesy of endless media interviews.
Kearney, 36, revealed to stay on next year with players such as King, who missed out on the glory at the end of North's unbeaten season, her influence motivating the founding Kangaroo to not retire just yet.
"There were a few girls who missed out this year from injury - Mia King and Nicole Bresnehan - and I did say to them, 'Maybe that's my cue to stick around and hopefully do it again with them'," Kearney said.
Bella Eddey was another teammate full of praise for the way King accepted the coach's decision to put team first two days out from the AFLW decider.
"The way you've handled yourself this week has been so admirable," she said of King.
Brisbane had initially opened the scoring, courtesy of high-end defensive pressure via a holding-the-ball free kick before North Melbourne scored nine of the next 10 goals.
Ally Anderson was one of the few Lions in their engine room who was able to have an impact on the match, though to no avail.
The Gangulu woman collected seven kicks and 11 handballs, in addition to personally having five of Brisbane's 15 clearances, while putting on eight tackles.
But Dakoda Davidson, who has orchestrated many Lions wins in front of goals, was uncharacteristically playing without her double-raised first pumps that frequently motivate Brisbane's good fortunes.
She struggled against the Kangaroos defence, the Gunditjmara star held scoreless to finish with just five disposals and two marks.
Courtney Hodder was another forward to battle in the grand final. The Yamatji star walking away with a somewhat disappointing performance of five kicks and two handballs with no impact on the scoreboard.
