NEVER count out a wounded Lion, and while reigning grand finalist Brisbane has had an “up and down year” thus far, they found a way to make it seven-straight wins over rivals Adelaide on the weekend. In another epic battle between two of the AFL Women’s powerhouses, it was the Lions who came from 17 points down to maximise the breeze and boot the only three goals of the last term to come away with a three-point victory.

The third of those goals came in the dying stages when last year’s co-competition leading goalkicker Taylor Smith received a free kick and duly converted from close range. That edged Brisbane three points up, and while the Crows had around a minute to do something about it, a Jade Ellenger crunching tackle on India Rasheed at half-forward snuffed out any hope of a response.

Brisbane coach Craig Starcevich admitted the coaching staff were all a “bit frantic there at the end” but he was “impressed” with the composure of his players despite it being “pretty scrappy” in the final few minutes.

“We were actually really composed and had a few little moments along the way which was really, really pleasing given the nature of the game,” he said. “We’ve got huge respect for Adelaide obviously, we’ve played a lot of close games against one another and that’s just another chapter in that story really. “These sort of wins are really good for your footy soul, to come out the other side. “Particularly we’ve had an up and down year so far but it’s been super for us today.”

Starcevich said it was an all-round team effort, with his tall forwards making a “good contest”, the midfield “toiled away” and the defenders were “really organised”.

“They didn’t allow the ball to get behind them too often, they defended that part of the ground particularly when we had to defend it when Adelaide had the breeze, that was really tricky,” he said. “I thought across the board it was always going to be a day where the girls call it their sisterhood, but it was the day for that type of win today. “Everyone contributed, everyone had their moments, we had a squillion one percenters with smothers here and there, it was just a terrific grind to the end.”

When asked whether Brisbane head-to-head recent record over the Crows was a factor when the game was close, Starcevich admitted “I think it does”.

“I mean not so much the fact that we’ve snuck over the line a few times, I just think that the teams are evenly matched, we have been for ages,” he said. “It continues, they’ve got their match-winners, we’ve got ours. We’re pretty evenly matched, we’ve played plenty of big finals against each other and today was just another part of that.”

His opposing coach Matthew Clarke did not enjoy the head-to-head record as much joking that if it was not his side then he would find it “quite comical” the way the Crows happened to “find ways to get rolled by small margins”.

“It’s disappointing clearly, but in the end, what do you do? You get back to work and try and get better and we’re two and two in the season and there’s eight games to go, so we’ve got to find our best footy over the next eight games and try and win enough to qualify,” he said.

“We played a pretty good game. The last quarter probably lost control of it a little bit and it lived in our back 50 so eventually we got a bit unlucky, but ultimately Brisbane were good enough to maintain their intensity and if you reflect on the whole game it’s probably 80 minutes of footy where 74 of them were pretty good for us, 72 maybe, but you need 80.”

As for the Lions, Starcevich said the result was an “important one” against another side challenging for the flag, though he conceded it felt like the competition had become more even given both sides were battling around the middle of the ladder.

“Well 1-2 last week and 2-2 this week, and the Crows are the same,” he said. “You’ve got two clubs that have consistently been up there for a while now batting 50/50 at the moment so that’s probably a bit of a nod to the competition with how even its become.

“For us that was important one, against a fellow challenger I guess to make sure we got the points today because our draw’s tough and will continue to be tough. We’ve got the premiers next week so that’s another big challenge for us.”

Both sides play on Sunday with the Crows travelling to Frankston to lock horns with the Hawks, while Brisbane faces a tough test against the red-hot Kangaroos back at Brighton Homes Arena.