BRISBANE AFL Women’s coach Craig Starcevich is not shying away from the fact his team wants top spot on the ladder and remain in Queensland for the finals series. That dream is just one week away after ticking off yet another box with a regulation win over Hawthorn. The Lions goal was to restrict the Hawks from scoring, and they did just that, keeping them to two scoring shots and just one win in the 54-point victory.

Starcevich’s Lions are 27.4 per cent ahead of Melbourne, but both sides have eight wins from nine matches in a race for top. The top two positions are locked in – being almost 70 per cent and four points difference between those spots and third placed Adelaide – but the Lions coach was not content with just finishing second.

“That part of about keeping a little bit of a gap between us and the rest of the comp was important, so to not get scored against was priority tonight so job done from that point of view,” Starcevich said. “We did (speak about top spot). Every time the oppo score, what does that do to our percentage at the moment because we know we have a couple of good teams breathing down our neck. It’s huge to be in Queensland throughout the finals series would be a huge advantage for us.”

The win over Hawthorn was highlighted by some terrific individual performances including Ally Anderson racking up 31 disposals and 10 clearances, while Jesse Wardlaw slotted three goals to take her total to 17 for the season and be three clear of her nearest rival. Though Wardlaw is hitting the scoreboard regularly, Starcevich said she was also impacting in other areas, but still learning as the season went on.

“She got beaten to the ball a couple of times when it came in, but generally speaking this year she’s been really good at either halving the contest in the air or winning it herself. she’s actually one of the better tall forwards too I think at scooping up the ground ball and being creative there,” he said. “All things considered she’s got a few different strings to her bow and tonight the fact she kicked three and had a decent game and had a good year so far is great reward for her year.”

Brisbane has scored 50 more points than Melbourne heading into Round 10, meaning the Lions must ensure they do not allow Melbourne to win by 50 more points than they do. The Lions take on Collingwood at Metricon Stadium on Friday night, while the Demons host West Coast the next day at Casey Fields. When asked if they had already focused their attention on the Pies, Starcevich said “a little bit”.

“We were out there watching that game today, so it was good just to go and see live to see what goes on,” he said. “We don’t get the chance to watch too many opposition teams to play where we’re from so it was good to get there today and just have a close up look. They’re a team that we’ve got a bit of a history with in big games so looking forward to next Friday night.

“I think we’re both at each others throats. We’ve had some big finals in recent times so I suspect our motivation’s as great as theirs.”