NORTH Melbourne's women's side is on its way to breaking a 72-year-old record.  

And it may never be broken again.  

Across VFL and AFL history, the longest winning streak is Geelong’s 23 consecutive wins across 1952 and 1953, whilst the Cats' unbeaten streak (which includes drawn results) is 26 games. 

Some AFL sides have come close to the record in recent years, from Melbourne's 17 consecutive wins across 2021 and 2022, to St Kilda's 19-game streak in 2009. 

But with salary caps and a mere eight points this year separating the top four from a Bali trip in September, the evenness of the AFL has made it difficult for any side to come remotely close to knocking Geelong off the table.

But the girls might do it. 

AFLW is in a unique position, just 10 seasons into its existence. Whilst round five provided a plethora of upsets that indicated the gap between the best and the rest is finally closing, North Melbourne's dominance remains. 

The Roos have started their season 5-0, but their winning streak extends back to round three, 2024 and now stands at 17 games on the trot. If you include drawn matches, North Melbourne holds a 19-game unbeaten streak since round one, 2024. 

Now with seven matches left in the home and away season and no signs of a dip in form, Darren Crocker's side is on track to surpass Geelong's 23-game record before finals even come into the equation. 

In fact, with an average winning margin of 55.2 points so far this season, the Roos are making it look easy. They've already broken multiple records in five rounds of footy this year alone. 

In round three, they set a new AFLW record with a 100-point win over Fremantle. The 114 points they scored against the Dockers was also a record, merely 24 hours after Port Adelaide had set the new mark.

And just last week, the Roos became the first reigning premier to win an AFLW Grand Final rematch in their 29-point victory over Brisbane.

Sitting comfortably on top of the ladder, they're raging hot favourites to be the first back-to-back premiers in the AFLW too. Another unbeaten season would see their winning streak stretch to 24 games (26 unbeaten) by the end of the home and away season, and 27 (29 unbeaten) if they lift the cup again.

Sometimes, with sporting dominance comes predictability and even boredom. But North's surge to the record might be one of the most interesting storylines the competition has seen. With the gap in the AFLW closing faster each year, a record-breaking run like this may never be achieved again.

And while the Cats are in their sights, global sporting history could be on the cards as well.

In men's basketball, the longest winning streak in the NBL in Australia is held by the Brisbane Bullets (21 games in 2007), while the Los Angeles Lakers enjoyed a streak of 33 games in 1971-72 in the NBA.

In the WNBA, the Las Vegas Aces were recently on a record run of their own. After winning their 17th consecutive game last Sunday, they were one win away from tying the league record held by the Los Angeles Sparks, but lost to the Seattle Storm three days later. 

In rugby league, the record is 19 consecutive wins first set by Eastern Suburbs in the 1970s and matched by the Melbourne Storm in 2021.

In A-League soccer, Brisbane Roar earned the title of 'The Invincibles' with its 36 matches without defeat from 2010 to 2011. But given the relatively high number of draws in soccer, the competition's best consecutive win streak is 10 by the Western Sydney Wanderers from 2012 to 2013. 

In the English Premier League, Arsenal was also known as 'The Invincibles' from 2003 to 2004 with its 49-game unbeaten run. But the longest winning streak in the EPL is 18 games by Manchester City (2007) and Liverpool (2019-2020). The Roos are one away from matching that. 

Is North Melbourne about to become 'Invincible' as well? We'll find out over the next 10 weeks.

LONGEST VFL/AFL/AFLW WINNING STREAKS
23 – Geelong (R12, 1952 to R13, 1953)
20 – Essendon (R1, 2000 to R20, 2000)
20 – Collingwood (SF, 1928 to R18, 1929)
20 – Brisbane (R10, 2001 to R4, 2002)
19 – St Kilda (R1, 2009 to R19, 2009)
19 – Melbourne (R15, 1955 to R13, 1956)
18 – Carlton (R10, 1995 to R2, 1996)
17 - North Melbourne (R3, 2024 to R5, 2025)*
17 – Collingwood (R5, 1903 to R2, 1904)
17 – Melbourne (R20, 2021 to R10, 2022)
16 – Geelong (R10, 2022 to GF, 2022)
16 – Essendon (R7, 1950 to R2, 1951)
16 – Essendon (R12, 1949 to R5, 1950)
15 – Geelong (R6, 2007 to R20, 2007)
15 – Geelong (R10, 2008 to PF, 2008)
15 – Essendon (R7, 1981 to R21,1981)
15 – Carlton (R16, 1907 to R11, 1908)