IN WHAT may feel like a sense of d\u00e9j\u00e0 vu to some, the AFL Women\u2019s Grand Final has come around again, and for the second year in a row it will be North Melbourne taking on Brisbane in the decider.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Both sides have been on a journey in the 12 months since last year\u2019s decider, as Brisbane coach Craig Starcevich<\/em><\/strong> alluded to was the biggest change in his group in the last 12 months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWell we got the good lesson early in the year, didn’t we? And we’ve had another one since,\u201d Starcevich said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cFor us, it’s been a bit of a journey of growth across the year I guess, just to try and improve. “There was a fair few things in the first time we played each other this season that we needed to get to work on, and I reckon we’ve steadily got better. “From that point of view, I think we’ve still got a lot of decent footy left in us and a lot of improvement left in us, which is probably the downside of only having an 11 game season.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n When he was asked the same question, North Melbourne coach Darren Crocker<\/em><\/strong> had a slightly different answer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI think the biggest change for us is just the calmness within the group throughout the season\u201d Crocker said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI think we’ve given us ourselves enough evidence to know that we are rightfully should be back here on this stage.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Despite the pain of losing last year\u2019s decider, Crocker confirmed he has not really brough it up in the build up to this year\u2019s decider.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe haven’t really spoken about last year at all,\u201d Crocker said. \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI’ve said it before that we took some learnings out of last year, you’d be stupid not to, and just drip fed that throughout our preseason in regards to what held up pretty well on the biggest stage last season, and then what we could actually do better and that was more just from an education perspective on us becoming a better team.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n These two sides have met once already this season, which saw North Melbourne pick up a big win back in Round 1.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Starcevich said that result is somewhat relevant now, but it is not the be all and end all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cProbably the last month’s worth of footy is the only thing that I find relevant, normally,\u201d Starcevich said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBut when you’re talking months ago, I guess it’s not completely irrelevant, but more in the rear view mirror now in terms of what we’re doing preparation wise.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n