IT has been another strong AFLW campaign for Cavendish product, Emma Kearney, who continues to defy the odds by keeping her perfect All-Australian record intact with a seventh selection last week.

The 33-year-old moved to the half-back line at the North Melbourne Tasmanian Kangaroos in recent seasons, earning the AFLW team of the year selection in each of the seven seasons to date.

Kearney said it was another strong year for the team, reaching the preliminary final in the most recent season, and was grateful for the individual honour once again.

“It is a nice little honour to get at the end of the year, I always put in a lot of work in my own game and it was no different,” she said.

“I tried really hard to improve on my game, I was probably a bit down on form, but I am competitive and always looking to get better every year.

“I sustained a knee injury late in the home and away season, so just had to get through that and now my body and my mind will enjoy the off-season, nice to have summer off and enjoy the Christmas period.”

Having been bundled out of the finals by eventual premier, Melbourne, in the penultimate stage, it was further than the Roos had progressed in recent campaigns.

Kearney said it was another positive step for the group and was excited for the future.

“If you had of spoken to me last season, I would have thought we are a long way off, but now I don’t feel we are as far off,” she said.

“We had a close tussle with Melbourne in the Preliminary Final against the eventual reigning premiers and we got games into our younger players.”

Despite the season winding up, Kearney is still in the thick of football routine, having taken up an AFL development coaching role at the club under new coach, Alastair Clarkson.

Learning under arguably the best coach of the modern era will also shape Kearney’s playing ability and the former local will be hoping to glean as much as she can from the coaching mastermind.

“I started a week and a half ago and it has been awesome,” Kearney said.

“Learning off Clarko, he has such a wealth of knowledge, and even Brett Ratten and John Blakey, there is so much experience and I am learning so much.

“I think it is a way for me to stay in the game, I have loved playing it and never thought I would be interested in coaching when I was younger.

“I love developing the young ones and being a teacher, you love building those relationships.”

Kearney’s coaching move sees her join the likes of Daisy Pearce, Chelsea Randall and Erin Phillips who are all among AFLW players who have pushed into the AFL coaching ranks.

A senior coaching role is not on Kearney’s radar just yet, but said it may progress over time into something she wants to pursue.

“It is really great that we are getting women involved in coaching, Daisy, Erin and Chelsea are others,” she said.

“It is great to have diverse voices and can create great convos and outcomes.

“The AFL gave away scholarships to get women into coaching and North Melbourne was one of the recipients and had a convo with footy ops manager and spoke with Todd Viney and Clarko to nut out what the role would look like.

“It will be for a couple of seasons then we will see how the role progresses from there.”

Despite juggling coaching responsibilities over the summer before returning to the club for the start of the AFLW pre-season, Kearney said she still hopes to play for a few more seasons.

“I am hopeful to play for another two or three years if body and mind holds up, I had so much enjoyment and the young ones bring so much energy and enthusiasm,” she said.

“Even though my body needs a break, I am so keen to get into training and have learnt so much already about what Clarko has taught the boys.”

Kearney also expects the quality of AFLW to continue improving each season, something she is excited to contribute to.

“The big difference between men’s and women’s is you can tell the boys have been playing footy forever, whereas you can tell there are some girls who are new, and so it makes it difficult to do certain drills and other things,” she said.

“It will take time, I think it is still another five years or so away, but we are on the right path.”