JENNA Bruton has become used to playing finals football.
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The North Melbourne star, who is already an AFLW a premiership winner with the Western Bulldogs, says she is excited to once again be in the running for the flag as her team plays host to Fremantle this weekend.
Bruton is running into some of her best form this season, picking up 27 disposals in the Kangaroos' 39-point win over West Coast in the final round last week.
The strong performance came at exactly the right time with the Roos having dropped the previous two matches to powerhouse clubs Brisbane and Melbourne.
This weekend, North Melbourne meets Fremantle in a elimination qualifying final on Saturday afternoon at Arden Street.
"It doesn't really feel like it's already finals time, it's come around so quick, but we're really excited to get out there this week," Bruton said.
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When the two sides met earlier in the year, an inaccurate Kangaroos side got up by 10 points, ending Fremantle's then unbeaten run.
The Dockers have been hit hard by COVID protocols since, but banked enough wins early in order to secure their finals position.
"We know they are a really strong team, great around the contest, but we've just got to focus on ourselves, play our way and hopefully get the job done.
"We played them last year at the end of the home-and-away season and we had to win that to make finals and we got up by a point, that was the game I got suspended for, so I had to watch it on the sidelines which was a bit hard.
"Arden Street is really good for the community, we get a lot of support. It feels so good to be at home and we hope everyone comes out to watch us."
One of the big talking points heading into the AFLW finals is the possibility of an August start for next season.
While Bruton says getting away from the height of summer will be beneficial for the players in future seasons, she believes such a quick turnaround at the end of this season could have some downside for players - many of who have full-time careers outside of football - not getting a break from the game.
"I think it will be tough to do that, but we just want to play footy, so you do what you have to do," she said.
"Everyone has careers outside of footy, it'll get a bit tough. I'm at Trentham every day, so I might have to get a sponsorship from a fuel company or something.
"It does need to start earlier, whether it's sooner or later. It's going to be hard for the kids that get drafted and are playing football as they are trying to finish school, we'll just have to see how it goes."