SATURDAY night saw another running of the annual AFLW Q-clash, with Brisbane fighting off Gold Coast this time around to win by 16 points.

When asked afterwards about whether the Gold Coast side his side faced performed as expected, Brisbane coach Craig Starcevich was not sure.

“I don’t know. I mean, we’re up against a lot of teams at this stage of the year that have got not much to lose,” Starcevich said.

“So to a degree they can play with a little bit of energy and freedom. We’re playing a little bit tight and safe at times.

“But I thought the Suns were terrific actually, all day long. They probably got a couple of fortunate ones in the first quarter with the wind and got out the back of us. I think they beat us for contested ball today, which is one of the areas that we’ve been pretty good at all year. I thought they were really good and not completely unexpected either, just due to the fact of where they’re at, Q clash, they’re looking for a win, and we’re sort of, you know, looking to November now.”

When asked about whether there was any concerns with his side’s performance, Starcevich just pointed out that it was the sign of the ebbs and flows of the season, and how different things were this time last season.

“I think it’s a little bit ebb and flow because if you want to look at this time last year, we were dropping these types of games,” Starcevich said.

“So we had a couple of games where opponents snuck up on us and we weren’t ready and we paid the price. Whereas today I thought we, we scrapped and battled reasonably well, albeit bit windy, a little bit wet by the end of it.”

One player whose efforts was praised by Starcevich was defender Jennifer Dunne, who Starcevich said has grown a lot since joining the competition last season and that “she’s coming here and playing mainly a defensive role where she’s more of a midfielder back home,” in Ireland.

“So yeah, last year was a learning year,” he said. “Don’t let anyone down, don’t let my opponent beat me. This year, it’s a bit of keep her quiet, but see if I can be attacking myself. And you can see her natural athleticism and her willingness to win contests, but now she’s looking for every opportunity to attack out of back half, which is really helpful for us.”

Someone else who also drew praise from their coach was Evie Long, who Starcevich said “probably showed up some of our more established players actually with her with her read of the game and her intensity and her effort just to get to marking contests or contests generally.”