Hawks end Roos' record 32-game streak in Cairns stunner

Hawthorn has beaten North Melbourne 4.8 (32) to 3.7 (25) in Cairns to end the longest winning run in elite Australian rules football history.

The seven-point upset came at Cazaly's Stadium on Friday night, September 18, in Round 6 of the 2026 AFLW season, Australia's national women's competition. AFL In footy scoring, the first number is goals worth six points, the second is behinds worth one, with the total in brackets.

North Melbourne arrived ranked first. Hawthorn arrived ranked eighth. That gap did not matter.

North led by 10 points at half-time and looked in control. Hawthorn shut the game down after the break. The Roos managed just 3.7 (25), their lowest score since 2023, according to ABC.

It is Hawthorn's greatest win since joining the AFLW in 2022. The Hawks did it without captain Emily Bates, who ruptured her ACL — a major season-ending knee injury — the previous weekend.

The result ends North Melbourne's run of 32 straight wins. The club says the sequence stretched back to the 2024 Grand Final, the championship decider. North Melbourne FC

That streak is the longest in AFL, VFL and AFLW history. North went undefeated through back-to-back premierships — championships — in 2024 and 2025. Before Friday night, the Roos had not lost since the 2023 grand final against Brisbane.

They opened the 2024 season with a win and a draw, then kept winning. And winning. One report put the unbeaten stretch at 1,020 days. news.com.au

What makes this stand out is the method. Hawthorn did not outscore North in a shootout. They squeezed them. Space disappeared. North's ball movement stalled. Seven points is a single straight kick, but in a low-scoring grind it felt wide.

For fans, this means the season just opened up. North remains the benchmark. Hawthorn now owns the win every other contender needed to see.