Inside Darren Crocker’s AFLW grand final pre-match address that guided North Melbourne to the flag
It was a glimpse into the future that Darren Crocker held on to for the entire AFLW season, only to use at the perfect time. Go inside the speech that spurred North Melbourne to the flag.
It was the secret vision-turned-premonition held until the very last moment by North Melbourne coach Darren Crocker that gave his side the boost to back-to-back flags.
The normally pragmatic Crocker first caught a glimpse of his team’s future in the pre-season before the Roos kicked off an unbeaten campaign.
He saved the moment for the final pre-game address of the season, minutes before his side charged out ahead of the grand final triumph over Brisbane.
Crocker’s moment appeared during a breath work seminar held before the season involving the Roos side, in which an instructor told the group to visualise themselves on a beach and forest.
“He said he had a moment and visualised something,” Roos defender Libby Birch said.
“He said he would tell us in round 1. Round 1 comes around and he didn’t tell us.”
The coach guarded his vision all year, until that pre-match address, when he dropped the final spine tingling motivation to his champion side.
“Crock was telling us about how he visualised all of us together and we were walking towards something shiny and he didn’t know what it was,” Birch said.
“He visualised it through the beach and up to the forest and we were all standing in a circle and there was something shiny in the middle.
“He said, ‘I want you to find out what that is’.
“And to us it meant having to lean in and finding out what that is, he wanted us to lean into the moment. I felt like we probably didn’t lean into the (preliminary final) against the Dees well enough.
“There was a lot of pressure for us to get into the grand final. That is all he wanted us to do, to just absorb it and be energised by leaning in. That was a pretty powerful message heading into the game.”
History will show Crocker’s message worked, as the Roos leant in to a 40-point win over the Lions.
And the vision the coach had came true in the middle of Ikon Park after the siren.
“There was a moment we had post-match where we were all surrounding the premiership cup and he said, ‘Look girls, you all found out what the shiny thing was’. And we leaned in on the cup,” Birch said.
“It was an incredible feeling because it matched everything he had described before the match.”
Fired up by Crocker and with favouritism on their side, many outside the Roos inner sanctum considered the grand final a fait accompli heading into Saturday night.
It took only a few moments for Birch to feel the same, as she headed to her record fourth AFLW flag.
“On the ground there is this funny feeling when you look into each other’s eyes that we aren’t going to lose,” she said.
“I just knew that from the first quarter. We were just on. Everyone was communicating, we were organised and ferocious and up for the challenge.
“I will never forget the feeling we had as a group. I think that will be the thing I will remember forever.”
Originally published as Inside Darren Crocker’s AFLW grand final pre-match address that guided North Melbourne to the flag
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