North Melbourne is on a 30-game streak. Everyone else is in a genuine scrap.

North Melbourne beat the Western Bulldogs by 47 points on Saturday. It stretched their winning streak to 30 games straight. Nobody else in the competition is within cooee of that run, and honestly, it's a joy to watch a team play footy at that level.

Three rounds into the season, though, most of the talk isn't about North running away with things. It's about how even everyone else looks underneath them, and that's the part that's got me excited for the rest of the year.

The streak that keeps not ending

Thirty straight wins is a genuinely absurd number in any competition. North are chasing a third premiership in a row, and so far nothing in 2026 has looked capable of stopping them. Saturday's game against the Bulldogs told the story in miniature. North led by just a point at quarter time, then kicked eight of the next nine goals and turned a contest into a 47-point margin by full time.

The Bulldogs deserve real credit here. They came into that game unbeaten through two rounds, and for a half they looked like they belonged in the same conversation as the reigning premiers. That takes courage against a team like this. The gap showed up eventually, the way it always does against North, but the fight the Dogs put in for that first half was the kind of footy that makes you fall for this competition all over again.

Everyone else is a genuine scrap, and that's a good thing

That's really the story of this AFLW season so far. North sits on its own, untouchable. Below them, it's been genuinely tight, and I mean that in the best way. Sydney's the only other side with a perfect start. Essendon is still searching for its first win, and you can feel how much they want it. Adelaide and West Coast are both winless too, both hunting the same thing, both still very much alive. Carlton headed to Perth for its first real interstate test of the year against Fremantle.

None of that reads like a competition with an obvious top tier beneath the top team. It reads like a genuinely open scrap for finals spots, decided week to week, with everyone still believing they've got a shot. That's what you want from a season this early.

Hawthorn's real test isn't September, it's now

Hawthorn is the club I'm watching closest through these opening rounds, and I say that with real affection for what they've built. They've made the top four each of the last two seasons and been bundled out in straight sets both times, a strong list that keeps running into a wall the moment finals football actually starts. It's a hard thing to watch as a supporter, working that hard to get there and coming up short at the last hurdle.

Round three brought some genuine reasons for hope, a breakout performance that had people talking, and a lovely milestone game for captain Emily Bates at the club's new home ground against Adelaide. Good signs, and worth celebrating. But Hawthorn's actual challenge was never making finals. It's what happens once they get there. Every round between now and September is either building the answer to that or repeating the same heartbreak.

What this means for the rest of the season

North Melbourne being this dominant isn't really in question anymore, and there's something special about watching a team this good play. The question worth savouring is what the competition looks like underneath them. If the tightness holds, this becomes a season where the minor premiership might be settled early but finals qualification stays genuinely uncertain deep into the back half. That's a more interesting season than one team steamrolling the whole field top to bottom, and it's exactly the kind of season that keeps you tipping every single week.

Three rounds in, the gap at the very top is as wide as it's ever been. Everything below it is closer, and more heartfelt, than it's looked in years.