Darren Crocker has praised his team’s first-half performance against Richmond, boldly stating it’s the best football he’s ever seen them play.

The North Melbourne Tasmanian Kangaroos led 41-2 at the main break, with five different players kicking goals.

Emma Kearney and North’s midfield starred, while the defence held strong.

“Our first half was the most complete footy we’ve played so far this season,” Crocker told the media. 

“All the concepts that we’ve been working on came together really well.

“We were able to control the game for long periods in the first half … but there will be lessons learnt from the third quarter in particular.”

North went scoreless in that third quarter, but Crocker was impressed with his team’s ability to self-diagnose what went wrong.

“We spoke to each line about their different responsibilities for what had happened,” he said.

“They all knew how they had come undone in relation to how we went to play … each line was responsible.

“They responded really well in the last quarter … when Richmond upped the ante.”

Debutant Georgia Hammond kicked a goal on debut in the final quarter of the game.

Hammond was recruited with pick 44 in the 2020 AFLW Draft, and the 28-year-old’s story path to the top level hasn’t been an easy one.

Crocker said her journey was an inspiring one, and the way her teammates celebrated her goal was indicative of the closeness of the group.

“It’s a great story of perseverance and resilience, just to hang in there to get this opportunity to be on an AFLW list,” he said.

“All the girls were so pleased to see her (Hammond) out there … when she kicked that goal they came from everywhere and swarmed her which was nice.”