The headlines read: "No.1 pick requests trade to reigning dual premiers".

But that's only half the Kristie-Lee Weston-Turner story.

The 21-year-old forward has waited a month for her North Melbourne debut, and she certainly didn't waltz into the Roos line-up in round one and instantly made the rich richer, as some alarmists had feared.

Sunday's match against Carlton will be just her ninth AFLW game over two-and-a-third seasons.

Unhappy and rarely played at the Western Bulldogs, and out of contract at the end of last year, she could have walked to any other club and got a game in round one. 

So why North Melbourne?

"I could handle not playing, I couldn't handle not being developed. That was what I was really craving. People want to stand there and call me a 'flag chaser', but that was never a thing, I never came here to make an impact (straight away) and play games," Weston-Turner told AFL.com.au in an emotional first interview in her new colours.

"I sat down with 'Crock' (coach Darren Crocker), he spoke to me about their development plan. I did the same with other clubs I spoke to, and all I wanted to know was their development plan and how they did things, and North just aligned with me straight away. 

"Claire Mahony's a great example of that. Didn't play all of last year, and is now absolutely killing it because they put so much time and effort into her. I'm getting my opportunity a little bit earlier (than her), but I'm so grateful and excited."

Weston-Turner is at pains to mention she wishes the Western Bulldogs well and respects the players and wider program.

The development point is somewhat of a catch-22 within the wider AFLW landscape.

North Melbourne can afford to put extra hours of development and one-on-one training into its younger cohort, because the likes of Ash Riddell, Jas Garner and Emma Kearney essentially run themselves at this point of their ultra-professional careers.

Clubs who are in a development phase are trying to spread that extra attention across a full list of 30, and some fall through the cracks, through no fault of the team nor player.

In some cases, it can widen the gaps between the haves and have-nots.

"That's what has stood out for me, the development and the amount of time and effort the coaches have put into me. That's not just 'Crock', but the line coaches too. They don't care if they have to stay back 15-20 minutes after training and do some touch with me, or craft, or whatever it is," Weston-Turner said.

"All of our IDPs (individual development plans), how we constantly check over them, just the development in general has been so good. I've learned so much over pre-season, and it's been great to see my progress, from where it was to debuting for a team that's so successful. Wholeheartedly, I'm so grateful.

"You see players like Ash Riddell who'll be the last one off the track, and all she's doing is working on her craft. She then goes and has 45 touches in a game, but she does the work. To have role models like her and 'Jammin' (Garner) and everyone here, I just want to be exactly like them and follow in their footsteps."

It's no disrespect to Weston-Turner to say if the 2023 AFLW Draft was an open pool, she wouldn't have been the first selection.

Expansion rules meant Port Adelaide (among others) could pre-sign local talent, removing them from the draft before it happened, and Shineah Goody and Lauren Young would have certainly been picked before Weston-Turner if such regulations hadn't existed.

She played just one game in her second AFLW season (initially stymied by a pre-season bout of COVID and a concussion), and readily agrees with the suggestion that the "No.1" label is both a blessing and a curse.

"I went into the Dogs as the No.1 player, but I left as just another player, and I arrived at North as just another player. Your name gets called out on draft night, and then you walk through the doors of your club and it means nothing," Weston-Turner said.

"No.1 pick got me nowhere in my second year – you're still fighting for spots, you're doing the same work as everyone. I honestly don't see myself as a No.1 pick now. It means nothing. It meant something on draft night, but I'm just another player now. There's limelight that comes with it, don't get me wrong, but I don't buy into it too much.

"Last year was definitely challenging. I can definitely handle not getting played, but I just craved that development. I simply wasn't getting it. That's not to talk bad about the Dogs, I still love the girls there, I still talk to them, I live with Cleo Buttifant. I still see Heidi (Woodley), Ellie (Blackburn) and Brooke Barwick, I idolise the girls, but from an on-field perspective, I just wasn't getting what I needed. 

"I think at times, I think I deserved an opportunity and wasn't getting that. This isn't me being cocky – I can see my potential. I know I'm not anywhere near that yet, but I want some effort put into me a bit, and that's what drove me to look at my other options, and I'm glad I did."

Barwick was selected by the Dogs with pick No.4 in the same draft, and has similarly battled for selection, having managed nine games so far.

"I definitely lost myself last year. I fell out of love with footy, and coming here, I'm just having fun. It honestly makes me emotional to think that I was contemplating whether footy was for me or not, and six-year-old me would have been so disappointed with how things turned out last year and how I felt towards footy," Weston-Turner said.

"Brooke Barwick was a big one last year. We were in a similar boat, in a sense, and we're still quite close, she's one of my best mates. When hard times were there, I'd have a Tuesday sauna with Brooke, and in a healthy way, we'd talk about it and then we'd be like, 'all right, we need to pick ourselves up and focus on training'. 

"If it wasn't for her last year, I don't think I'd be playing footy this year. I definitely leant on Brooke, and I'm so grateful, she's such a beautiful person inside and out."

Weston-Turner has quickly formed such a close bond with Crocker, she was able to talk him into starring in a TikTok video.

He took to it with great aplomb and energy, excitedly miming "it's coronation day" from the first line of For the First Time in Forever, from the animated movie Frozen.

"Crock is just such a great human. People know he's a great coach, but you get into a one-on-one conversation with him, and he's just the best. He cares about me and my family, he's such a girl-dad, and he's a father figure," Weston-Turner said.

"I love TikTok so much, and as soon as I got to North, I was like, 'I need to get this man to do a TikTok'. Me and Maddy 'Torps' (Torpey) worded him up on it, and he was saying, 'no, no, TikTok's not for me'.

"On photo day, I walked into his office, and said, 'right, this is what you're going to do'. And he did it. He loved it. Don't get me wrong, that wasn't the first take, he got some feedback and he was quite happy with it and wanted to do better. He did it and it was perfect, and all the girls got around it."

But it's not just silly videos and girl-dad energy from the club legend.

"Coming here, I was still trying to learn my love for footy again. At the start of pre-season, I was a bit inconsistent with my attitude when it came to wanting the footy in my hands," Weston-Turner said.

"We had a few practice games, and I came in on an off day to go through some vision. Crock and I were chatting, and I said to him, 'I'm not feeling confident'. I won't go through what was said, but we had a good chat, and I walked away from that trying to hold back tears, because he cared about me so much and could see something in me. It felt really nice to feel that. 

"I walked away thinking, 'I really need to commit here – I could be something special, but I need to work hard', and it just flipped a switch. I've always wanted to be here, but it was a mental thing around being 'good enough'. 

"But since that conversation, it's helped so much, On the field, I want to be involved, I want to have the footy in my hands. When I'm really confident, I'm on my A-game, whereas when I'm not confident – which I'd felt the last 18 months – I'm not myself at all. That was my turning point."