Tess Craven is having some kind of year. 

Pluck her out of the stacked-for-talent North Melbourne, throw her into any other team and she'd easily be your best player. She's versatile, has one of the best kicks in the game, and is blockbuster the second she snaps a goal from the pocket. 

But there's more to being Tess Craven than being a footballer. And coming to terms with that balance has ironically led to some of the best footy of her career.

"I think that's just a bit of maturity as well. It's realising that footy's incredible, footy's everything I've ever wanted to do. But life doesn't stop for footy, footy doesn't stop for life," Craven told AFL.com.au.

"You have to balance the two. I think I've had a bit more of a balance this year and I think that's helped."

North Melbourne's success has been attributed to the entire team's insatiable hunger to be the best in the competition, and Craven has leaned right into it. Calling her 2024 Grand Final performance one of her "breakout" games, the winger has gone above and beyond ever since. 

But in 2026, she slowed things down. Grateful for the achievements the Roos have had to date, Craven focused on looking after her life off-field. 

"In 2024, the team focus was like 'we've got to win that flag' and we were so driven and so motivated and that was our goal. Probably just a vengeance from losing the year before, I think that was just a collective like mindset," Craven said. 

"Then second year, I was like, God, I want that feeling again, that was the most incredible thing ever, and I feel like I didn't really take in everything around me. So, I want to do that again and I want to do it with this group again. We had such an incredible year and obviously achieved what we wanted to achieve again. 

"And this year, not in a bad way, I just think that I've stepped back and gone, 'Footy isn't the be all and end all of my life'. My life exists outside of football and the best way I can foster that and take care of the Tess who's not at football, at training, not working hard, the better I can be when I turn up here.

"I haven't had all my strict routines that I used to have. I haven't been the big nuffy that everyone knows me to be. Well, I put an effort to try not to be, because it just burns me out if you're personally doing all those things. And I was a bit worried whether I would perform the same. But I'm lucky enough that I am seemingly doing my role for the team and doing well."

Finding that balance was the next step for Craven, but it took time to get there. 

While maturity led her to find fulfilment outside of football, challenges in her personal life also forced her to re-evaluate its importance. 

"My partner (Izzy) is such a big support for me. And she had some health issues that sort of forced me to focus on things outside of football," Craven said.

"I feel like I'm pretty like philosophical and I think very deeply about things … Because for me, footy's always been the number one priority and training has always been the number one thing that I'm thinking about and performing has just been a constant omnipresent thing in my head.

"And when she was unwell, I had to come to the terms with the fact that footy has to take a back seat and I'm okay with that. This is more important for right now. And luckily everything's cleared up and she's all good."

It's clear the love and gratitude Craven has for the people around her, and "maximising" her relationships has been big for her in 2026. 

An only child, Craven is "super, super close" with her parents, leaning on them more for friendship and support now that she's older.  

And while she's been there for Izzy during the difficult times, she also credits her for bringing out the best in her too.  

"I think she's shown me that life doesn't have to be made of your routines, and you don't have to be always trying to get the absolute most out of every day," Craven said. 

"She's just very supportive. She helps me switch off a lot and with all that stuff I've spoken about before. She's not really that interested in football at all and she's just interested in me. She's just said to me before 'I don't care about Tess the footy player. I just care about Tess'. I don't think she realised the weight of what she said when she said it, but I think that's really helped with that mindset shift."

It sounds simple, but for someone who had pinned her entire life on becoming a footballer, it was life changing. 

Before finding that balance, Craven's whole universe had been wrapped in her identity as a footballer.  

"I wanted to be a footy player since I was like, I don't know, literally it's all I could ever, ever remember wanting to be," Craven said. 

"I fully just did not have any other plan. Maybe ignorantly. I didn't have any other thought than I just want to be a footballer. I think maybe alongside that, growing up, maybe realizing I was gay, I felt very insecure and very shameful, and just I wasn't really comfortable in my own skin. So, I think I probably latched onto the identity of football and being a footballer, so I could maybe escape that other part. 

"And then you're here (in AFLW) and you're no longer the best. You're at the peak of your powers, but you're at the bottom of the mountain. You have such long way to go, and also you don't really have anything else outside of it. 

"When I wasn't performing to the standard I wanted to, or I didn't feel like I was fulfilling my role for the team … I probably just became really anxious and really insecure even further. And because I made this such a part of my identity and I was failing, that meant I was a bad person. It didn't mean that I was just not good enough at football just yet, like it meant I was not a good person."

Craven's level of introspection is striking. From where she was a couple of years ago to the more positive, secure outlook she has now, it's impressive from someone just 22 years old. 

But that mindset shift took time. Two to three years of journaling every night kind of time. 

"A couple years ago the Resilience Project came [to the club] and spoke about gratitude and journalling and stuff like that. And for some reason that just really specifically resonated with me," Craven said. 

"I think I put a lot of work in into actively seeing and finding positive things around me and things to be grateful for because there's so much to be grateful for. 

"I think because I've been working on that, I think I put more time into my relationships and I put more time into what makes me as a person happy, what satisfies me as a person. Things like that have helped pull those identities apart. 

“To some extent, making (football) a part of your identity makes you a good footballer. And I think it was probably one of my strengths is that I am so passionate about this, and I do love it more than anything. But yeah, that next level, which I'm still coming to terms with now, is separating the two and being just Tess outside football."

Playing some of her best football is a sweet reward for the work Craven has done to get here. 

But North Melbourne's 'team first' value still shines through, with Craven crediting enjoying the journey with her teammates for helping her become the footballer she is now. 

"As I matured, I've sort of got out of my own head about how I was performing and stuff and actually did just focus on whether or not I'm playing my role for the team," Craven said. 

"Crock’s (Darren Crocker) gone on about that forever and ever. 'Enjoy the journey, and then the silverware takes care of itself'. So, I think a big part of me, probably in combination with that balancing of who I am outside of football with footy, is just making sure that I'm having a good time and making sure I'm enjoying it here. 

"Because it is such a privilege what we're doing and to be in such an incredible team. I'm sure I'll reflect on it in many, many years when I look back and I think of how lucky I am to be here at, you know, right place, right time, to be a part of this group in this awesome era.

"We put the team above ourselves, just do our role, then the results usually take care of themselves."

The Roos will play their second Pride Round game against Essendon in a double header, at Windy Hill on Sunday. 

For Craven, Pride Round has been special not only for what it means for herself as gay woman, but for what it represents for the community and women’s football.  

“I can't overstate how much of a privilege it is to be in the position that I, my teammates and my peers are in now,” Craven said. 

“It is through the work and the forging of pathways from queer women and girls before us that have given us a space that we have today and that I get to call this my job is because of the people who've come before me. 

“For me, I've always been comfortable presenting masculine. I have the tattoos and the short hair. Most people can sort of click that I probably don't like boys. And I've been that way for my entire life. I just always felt more comfortable this way. So, I've always thought of Pride Round as an indication for the people who maybe can't come out or who maybe don't present as queer. Or want to come out but aren't ready or it's not safe. 

“I see (Pride Round) as a showcase that you are safe here, you're welcome here… I think it's really exciting that we can we can showcase that we are a safe space for those people.”