Brisbane AFLW coach Craig Starcevich believes his team still isn't getting the respect it deserves ahead of its title defence. Despite winning two flags across eight AFLW seasons, reigning premiership coach Craig Starcevich says Brisbane is “still striving for the respect of the wider competition”.
Ahead of a Grand Final rematch against North Melbourne to start its title defence on Sunday, Starcevich believes the Lions will again start 2024 as an underdog.
“They’ve canvassed people across the League, and none have us winning it again,” Starcevich said on Thursday.
“If you watch the last game of last year, more the method and heart and spirit of team, that’s the bit that gets underestimated.”
Brisbane has thrived on flying under the radar, winning premierships in 2021 and 2023 and losing Grand Finals in 2017, 2018 and 2022. The 18 AFLW captains were split on who they thought was best placed to make this year’s decider, with nine opting for the Kangaroos, eight for the Lions and one for Geelong.
A fired-up Starcevich said win or lose in 2024, his team was ready to defend its crown.
“I see the grit and resilience and attention to detail, and yet we are still striving for respect from the wider competition,” he said.
“We’ll keep plugging away. It’s great incentive for us to not be touted as that, and to some degree, it makes me a little bit angry.
“But I think it’s great for us to keep proving ourselves, keep banging the door down.
“We’ve worked so hard for a bit of respect and it’s going to take forever to get it, by the looks of it.”
The Lions start their title defence at Springfield on Sunday with a grand final rematch against North Melbourne.
The 17-point win over the Kangaroos in last season’s decider secured the Lions a second premiership in three years.
However, despite the his team’s success, Starcevich said it was a case of the “same old, same old” with predictions of how this season will turn out.
“They’ve already canvassed people across the league and none of them have got us winning again,” the Lions coach said on Thursday.
“I see our players train every day of the week, and I see the grit, the resilience, the attention to detail and all the things that they do, yet we are still striving for the respect of the wider competition.
“It’s great incentive for us to not be touted as that, and in some degree it makes me a little bit angry, but it’s great for us to say ‘just keep proving yourself, just keep banging the door down’.
“We’ve worked so hard for a bit of respect and it’s going to take forever to get it by the looks of it.”
“There’s pressure every time we go out and play. There’s pressure this week. There’ll be pressure at training tonight,” he said.
“We’re in sport, we’re trying to win the competition, there are expectations because we’ve been OK, but you’re not trying to relieve pressure, you’re just trying to find a hook to say ‘we need to be respected’, and it’s going take forever, so that’s fine by us.”
Starcevich said the Lions had no choice but to improve if they hoped to make a successful premiership defence
“No one stands still in the sport, and you’ve just got to constantly keep getting better and find different ways and better ways of doing things,” he said.
“How you finished the year before, regardless of the result, you’re always looking for something better, so people will come in, change the look of us and hopefully make us better.”
Those people include returning 36-year-old Kate Lutkins, who has not played for almost two years after missing most of the action in 2022 with a serious knee injury and then falling pregnant last season.
“She’s hungry, ready to go, and it’s almost quite nostalgic to look at the way she’s doing things because it reminds us of how we remember her from a couple of years ago,” Starcevich said.
Angered by what he views as a lack of respect, Craig Starcevich says his Brisbane Lions squad will have no issues for motivation ahead of their AFLW premiership defence.
The Lions will begin their season with a grand final rematch against North Melbourne at their Brighton Homes Arena home ground on Sunday.
The two-time champions have defied the constant departure of top-end talent due to league expansion, missing just two of the seven grand finals played since the competition's 2017 arrival.
At this year’s captain’s call, players were asked to name a team other than their own they thought would contest the grand final.
Only one said it wouldn’t be one of the Kangaroos or the Lions, but inaugural Lions coach Starcevich insists there remains an underestimation of his squad.
“They’ve canvassed people across the league and none have us winning again,” he said on Thursday.
“It’s the same old, same old.
“The method and heart and spirit of team, that’s the bit that gets underestimated.
“I see the grit and resilience and attention to detail, and yet we are still striving for respect from the wider competition
“It’s great incentive for us to not be touted as that, and in some degree it makes me a little bit angry.
“We’ve worked so hard for a bit of respect and it’s going to take forever to get it, by the looks of it.
“You’re trying to find a hook, so that’s fine by us.”
With no new teams entering this year’s league it has given Starcevich some rare continuity, even with seven new faces courtesy of the club’s academy or trades.
Small forward Courtney Hodder will become the 15th Lions player to amass at least 50 games for the club in their season opener.
“It’s helpful ... but (I’ve been thinking) whether change is good and invigorating,” Starcevich said.
“Stability and playing together, what price do you put on that?
“No one stands still in the sport ... no matter how you finish the year before, you’re always looking for something better.”
