AFLW star Garner ties Kangas record with latest honour

North Melbourne star Jasmine Garner has completed another outstanding individual campaign by claiming the AFLW premiers' best-and-fairest award.

In one of football's great mysteries, Garner has regularly failed to poll high tallies of votes from umpires in the league's best-and-fairest award.

The trend continued this year, when the seven-time All-Australian finished equal-ninth in voting behind Adelaide's Ebony Marinoff.

But Garner is widely regarded as one of the best players of the women's competition's formative years and has now been named North Melbourne's best player five times.

The 30-year-old's latest nod comes after she was voted best afield in the Kangaroos' 30-point demolition of Brisbane in last Saturday night's grand final.

Garner tallied 35 disposals, 22 contested possessions, 13 tackles and 10 clearances in a monster performance as North Melbourne hoisted the premiership cup for the first time.

Afterwards, coach Darren Crocker paid tribute to his star midfielder, who is also a three-time AFL Coaches Association champion player, two-time AFL Players Association MVP and two-time All-Australian captain.

"She's a generational player," Crocker said.

"We'll look back in 50 years' time on this period of AFLW and Jas Garner will be right at the very top of the tree as one of the best players in the AFLW's infancy.

"She just continues to keep getting better, and I just love her as a player but also as a person."

Garner averaged 26.7 disposals, 7.6 tackles, 6.3 clearances and one goal across her 14 games in 2024 as North Melbourne won the flag undefeated.

She polled 211 votes in Thursday night's best-and-fairest count, ahead of fellow midfielder Ash Riddell (191) and defender Sarah Wright (160).

Riddell also finished second behind Marinoff in the league's best-and-fairest.

Garner joins retired AFL games record-holder Brent Harvey as the only North Melbourne players to have won five club best-and-fairest awards.