To make one grand final is massive. Two or more requires a seriously special team … how about seven?
That’s the number of deciders Craig Starcevich will steer the Lions into on Saturday when they face North Melbourne for the 2025 AFLW premiership for a third-straight year.
It marks seven grand finals in 10 seasons for Brisbane — including appearing in all but one decider this decade — and winning flags in 2021 and 2023.
Get all the latest AFL news, highlights and analysis delivered straight to your inbox with Fox Sports Sportmail. Sign up now!!!
WHAT’S GAMBLING REALLY COSTING YOU? Set a deposit limit. For Free and confidential support call 1800 858 858 or visit gamblinghelponline.org.au.
Suffice to say, Starcevich and company will be hoping that pattern of winning one every two years continues this week.
Starcevich has consistently kept the Lions at the top of the ladder contending for silverware, despite big poaching raids from expansion clubs over the years.
Good players spilling out of top teams is a tale as old as time in any code. But consider Brisbane’s exodus …
They include All-Australians Tayla Harris, Sabrina Frederick and Tahlia Randall as well as Kaitlyn Ashmore in the early years.
Randall, Ashmore, Jamie Stanton and Brittany Gibson all joined grand final opponent North Melbourne before it entered the competition in 2019.
In 2020, seven Lions crossed to cross-town rival Gold Coast including senior leaders Leah Kaslar and Sam Virgo, who were made inaugural co-captains of the Suns.
Indy Tahau, the 2025 AFLW leading goalkicker, joined Port Adelaide as an expansion signing ahead of the club’s first season in 2022.
The following year, Brisbane suffered a massive double blow. It lost Emily Bates, a best and fairest winner and one the league’s most decorated stars, and All-Australian Greta Bodey to Hawthorn.
A year later, Jesse Wardlaw, coming off a campaign as the league’s leading goalkicker, and Lulu Pullar, also departed.
You could just about put together an All-Australian side with all those names.
Emily Bates was one of Brisbane’s highest profile departures (Photo by Russell Freeman/AFL Photos via Getty Images)Source: Getty ImagesCraig Starcevich and Breanna Koenen hold up the premiership on December 03, 2023 (Photo by Morgan Hancock/AFL Photos/via Getty Images)Source: Getty Images
Losing key players became an all-too-familiar tale as the Lions seemed destined to slide.
Not this team.
Starcevich’s Lions have defied the odds and backed up top four finish after top four finish.
He’s clearly learned a thing or two about winning cultures and what it takes to succeed on the biggest stage across his football journey.
Starcevich was a premiership player for Collingwood under Leigh Matthews in 1990.
He also worked as a fitness coach in Matthews’ three-peat Lions era during the early 2000s.
All in all, Starcevich has been a part of six premiership sides in a record that stands up with the game’s greats.
Between him and Chris Fagan, they’ve delivered Brisbane four flags in five years.
“He’s reliable and consistent. It’s been remarkable. Seven grand finals in 10 years is an incredible effort in any sport,” Australian Football Hall of Fame legend Leigh Matthews told foxfooty.com.au.
“Very successful in the roles he’s undertaken — a premiership player, a premiership head of strength and conditioning coach and a premiership coach.
“Coaching is a little bit about the end result. And the end result has been outstanding in the win-loss ratio and number of grand finals and premierships.
“When it’s all said and done, that’s what you’re left with. The statistical results.”
Craig Starcevich and the Lions celebrate their preliminary final win over Carlton (Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)Source: Getty ImagesCraig Starcevich and Chris Fagan (Picture: Michael Klein)Source: News Corp Australia
Despite the notable list of exits, the Lions have retained a chunk of their core.
Cathy Svarc could’ve joined Bates and Bodey at the Hawks, plus had interest from Carlton and Essendon, but re-signed with Brisbane.
Courtney Hodder and Taylor Smith rebuffed interest from rival clubs after the Lions’ 2023 flag and also recommitted.
Jade Ellenger was in Sydney’s sights in 2023, while Nat Grider and Orla O’Dwyer were also chased by clubs but stayed loyal.
Still, the outs have outweighed the ins. And there will be more poaching efforts of a supremely talented list.
Yet the way the Lions have endured their losses and relaunched tells you a lot about the culture Starcevich has helped cultivate.
Longevity and sustained success, when key figures come and go, is the true mark of exceptionalism.
“Proof’s in the pudding. They’ve lost a lot of good players and had significant list turnover with the way the AFLW has evolved, but they’ve maintained their ability to keep winning,” Matthews added.
“It’s all part of the challenges — there’s challenges hitting you in the face all the time — but that’s one of the challenges the program has had.”
Starcevich, the last remaining inaugural AFLW coach, has his finger prints all over this golden run.
He previously spent more than six years at AFL Queensland in a variety of roles.
Along with his stint with Matthews’ Lions, fair to say Starcveich has given a lot to football in Brisbane and Queensland at large. And during a very good time to be a football fan in the Sunshine State.
Starcevich was strength and conditioning coach for Matthews’ Lions coaching staff (Picture 1998)Source: News Corp AustraliaCraig Starcevich and Taylor Smith celebrate after the preliminary final win over Carlton (Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images
The 58-year old spends his off-seasons in Switzerland, where his wife, Sonia, works as a senior executive for pharmaceutical giant Novartis.
It’s a unique arrangement with Brisbane but one that’s clearly worked for a club that’s endured greater obstacles along the journey.
Matthews says Starcevich’s “strength of character” and ability to handle adversity, after being “pushed out” of Collingwood in 1993 to make way for Nathan Buckley, has long stuck with him.
There’s a parallel there in traits that have clearly washed off on the long-time AFLW Lions coach’s teams.
“It was a difficult time for Craig and difficult time for us. It was all part of the arrangement to get Nathan Buckley in,” Matthews recounted.
“There were was around 10 protected players on the Collingwood list and other players we had to let go to the Bears. Craig didn’t particularly want to leave Collingwood at the time, but that was what had to happen.
“The way he managed that and his attitude around it all was something that always stuck in my mind as a strength of character. Taking adversity with class and dignity and moving on. That always stuck in my mind, because when I came up to the Lions, I had respect for his integrity and character.
“He was one of the few positions in the football department that continued on after there was a whole lot of change at the end of 1998 … you are a combination of your actions.”
On Saturday, Starcevich’s Lions have a big opportunity to further add to their legacy, with valuable history on the line.
A win would see Brisbane move up to three AFLW premierships and tie with Adelaide for the most in the competition’s history. It’d be fitting for a club with nearly twice as many grand final appearances as the next most and four in a row.
The Lions could also fend off North tying them with two flags and have claim as the team of the decade, with two of the Crows’ flags coming beforehand.
Of course, Brisbane beat North in the grand final two years ago, before losing the 2024 rematch, so Saturday’s winner between the powerhouses will crucially go up 2-1 in the trilogy.
Sure, the undefeated, 2025 version of the Kangaroos are a different beast. And they go into the grand final as the rightful favourites amid a record 26-game winning streak. So much of this season has been about who’s playing for second.
But it’d sure be brave to write off Starcevich’s Lions.