BRISBANE Lions AFL Women’s coach Craig Starcevich described it as “gritty” yet also “unjust”, but all in all, he was just pleased to come away with the points when his side defeated North Melbourne by seven points at Arden Street on Saturday. North had the lion’s share – pardon the pun – of the forward half possessions, recording 17 more disposals, but a whopping 20 more inside 50s, while winning both the uncontested and contested possession counts.

“(It was) just a gritty win really because it wasn’t one of our better performances, Starcevich said of the performance. “The opposition were pretty good in a lot of areas, particularly their best five out there, they were awesome.

“To be able to win a game like that, we’ve just got to grit it out and probably take your moments. In the third quarter where we had a lot of ball in our forward 50, we actually took the opportunities to score which was pleasing. Dakota (Davidson) and Greta (Bodey) and those sorts popped up when we needed them to, but it’s handy when you can take the points on a game where you haven’t actually played too well.”

For Davidson, it was a relieving win, having kicked her first goal of the AFL Women’s season. A renowned sharpshooter who slotted 16 goals back in 2021 as one of the game’s most potent forwards during the Lions’ run to the premiership, it took seven rounds to finally get on the board. Starcevich said it was great for the forward’s confidence, and never short of a goal celebration, Davidson “made the most of the moment”.

“She’s done so much hard work this year in so many other areas, competing right up the ground,” he said. “Just being the energiser bunny when we need her to be. For her to actually mark and kick the goal’s important for her confidence.”

Always composed with his reasoning, Starcevich could hardly hide his pleasure at getting the job done against quality opposition when admittedly his side had not played to its full potential. When asked how important the win was in the context of the season, the Lions coach was emphatic.

“They’re huge, because you’ve got a fellow contender who I thought played exceptionally well today,” Starcevich said. “That’s one of the best opposition we’ve played, and for us to have our noses in front at the end is probably a little bit unjust for what happened today. But to win games like that and eke those sort of wins out, that’s really important in the context of the footy season.”

Brisbane had a few little injuries from the match, with Zimmorlei Farquharson dislocating a finger, and Shannon Campbell suffering cramp late in the match, but Starcevich expected both to play next week. The Lions have a huge top of the table clash with Adelaide, a side the Lions have built a fierce rivalry with over the journey, especially on the biggest stage.

“Even our last four games, three of them have been here in Melbourne and only the one back up home last week against Essendon, so it’s been a tough road month for us,” Starcevich said. “But now two out of the last three are at home, so good to get our energy levels back up and play on Metricon which is a venue we like. Nice and quick and fast and suits our style of play and we’d be keen to get back there for two of the last three.”