IN HER 10-season AFLW career, Emma King had never experienced a challenge quite like the one posed in 2025.
Signed as a marquee player back in 2016 by Collingwood, King has always been a lock for matches, towering over opponents with her height of 187cm and ability to clunk marks far above her head.
Even before the AFLW, King was a young star in Western Australia, and was the first player picked in the 2014 exhibition series draft.
But having overcome a six-week hamstring injury picked up in pre-season, King was facing her biggest test – earning a spot back in North Melbourne's formidable 21.
The 31-year-old ultimately spent another three weeks as a fully fit emergency, before finally being recalled for her first game of the season, coming in round seven.
Having held her spot for the remainder of the year, she's now a two-time premiership player.
"I had a really good support system – my family especially – and then just the club helped me work through it," King told AFL.com.au after Saturday night's 40-point Grand Final win over Brisbane.
"It's a bit of a resilience piece for me, coming later in my career than [is the case for] most people, but I found a way to put myself back in the side and got to be here on the last day of the year."
While the score reads a 40-point win for North Melbourne, the general play was much more even, with Brisbane finishing with more inside 50s and matching the Roos in centre clearances.
"The Lions, they're such a physical side. They're one of the best and they've always been. They say they're the underdogs, but they've made the Grand Final seven years out of [nine], so they're an unbelievable side, and they've got that fight all the way to the end. So they make us fight to the end, and it almost makes it better for us," King said.
"Like 'Crock' (coach Darren Crocker) said, we've had 28 of our squad members come through the team, and to get to the end and go back-to-back is unreal, just really speechless.
"It's pure happiness once again, but I think we're going to party a lot harder."
