North's Emily Paterno looks for a target while under heavy tackle pressure.

North Melbourne's VFLW campaign has come to a close after suffering a 26-point defeat to the Southern Saints at Trevor Barker Beach Oval.

The Kangaroos entered the clash with a mathematical chance of making finals, however they would have had to overcome their fourth-placed opposition by over 10 goals to claim the final place in the top six.

VFLW senior coach Steph Binder says the final day loss doesn't impact how happy she is with the season her side put together.

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"It would have been nice to end it with a win. I think the girls can hold their heads high and celebrate, overall, a really good season though. We've been happy with the way it all came together," Binder told North Media.

"The pleasing thing was how we played, because I think we played with more pressure and aggression than we have all season.

"The girls were spectacular. They wanted to finish strong and to do everything they could for each other and for the jumper, they were up and about all day."

North midfielder Reni Hicks lays a tackle on an opposition player.

The Saints opened the game strongly by keeping the away side scoreless in the first term, however the Kangaroos defence stood up well to intense forward pressure.

North kicked itself back into the game in the second term thanks to goals from Sarah Skinner and Annalise Vine, but in the end the Saints proved why they have occupied a top four position on the ladder for much of this campaign.

Binder says a tactical tweak helped her side manage the contest in the middle of the game.

"Our ball movement was really hard today. We really like to get it out to the open side but the Saints did a really good job at blocking our switch," she said.

"We then worked out that we had space out the back so if we could get it over the pack and knock it on that's when we look best. I think we did that in the middle couple of quarters."

Ash Melnikas runs through the banner ahead of her 50th VFLW game.

The full focus of the club's VFLW program now turns onto next season and how to improve on this so close, yet so far finish to the campaign.

With captain Molly Eastman already committed to Sydney's AFLW program and the expansion signing window not closing until Monday afternoon, the side for Round 1 next year could look drastically different than today's line-up.

Binder says she's hopeful the core of the current group will remain at Arden Street.

"Hopefully we can retain a lot of the players and going forward. The girls have got a lot of belief in themselves," Binder said.

"Going forward we won't be trying to scrape into finals, we're going to be aiming to go deep into the season. We believe we can do it and we'll keep building from here."

Skinner was among North's most impressive performers with two goals, while Annabel Scott and Reni Hicks were strong influences in the midfield.

Ash Melnikas celebrated her 50th game at VFLW level and finished with 12 disposals and five tackles. 

SOUTHERN SAINTS: 1.6 2.7 4.8 6.11 (47)
NORTH MELBOURNE: 0.0 1.1 2.3 3.3 (21)

Best of VFLW-listed:

Ciara Fitzgerald: 15 disposals, six tackles
Reni Hicks: 18 disposals, seven tackles
Liz McGrath: 14 disposals, 29 hitouts, six clearances, four tackles
Annabel Scott: 26 disposals, five marks, seven clearances
Sarah Skinner: 12 disposals, two goals
Annalise Vine: Eight disposals, one goal