Brisbane Lions suffer another heartbreaking AFLW Grand Final loss to Western Bulldogs

LIONS AFLW coach Craig Starcevich has no idea whether two heartbreaking grand final losses will haunt his club, after they let another premiership slip through their fingers.

Kate McCarthy of the Lions breaks away from Ellie Blackburn.

LIONS AFLW coach Craig Starcevich has no idea whether two heartbreaking Grand Final losses will haunt his club, after they let another premiership slip through their fingers.

Brisbane suffered its second straight Grand Final defeat, with a gutsy performance and final-quarter fight back not enough to shut out the victorious Western Bulldogs, who won 4.3 (27)- 3.3 (21) at Ikon Park in Melbourne.

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In scenes reminiscent of last year’s loss to Adelaide, Starcevich’s side fell short by just one goal.

And while the coach praised his side’s effort in defeat, he also said he had no idea how the back-to-back premiership heartbreaks would affect the team moving forward.

“Who knows?” he said.

“It’s a long way back. Our season goes for this tight little chunk … it’s a long time between drinks.

“You only play for that little window at the start of the year … your thoughts about getting back on the horse and getting back into it quickly and driving you, that’s seven months down the track.

“Anything could happen.”

Sophie Conway celebrates the first goal of the AFLW Grand Final. Picture: Mark Stewart

Sabrina Frederick-Traub flies high in a marking attempt.

The Lions claimed an early 1.1 (7) – 0.1 (1) lead after young gun Sophie Conway kicked the first goal of the game.

They held that scoreline for the entire first half, before the Bulldogs came out firing in the third quarter with goals to Deanna Berry, Kirsten McLeod and player-of-the-match, Monique Conti.

Jess Wuetschner, who has been a standout for the Lions all season, booted two goals to try to lift her side to victory in the final quarter, but it was too little, too late as Emma Kearney responded with her own major to seal the deal for the Bulldogs.

The Lions players fell to their knees in despair when the final siren sounded, as they realised they had yet let another premiership slip through their fingers.

Starcevich said however that he could not be more proud of his team.

“We’re massively proud of them,” he said.

A dejected Sabrina Frederick-Traub during the trophy presentation.

“We’ve told them to keep their heads up. We keep banging on the door and consistently showing up in the last game of the year so it’s a pretty good start for your footy career.

“We’re the youngest list in the competition so down the track, sustained excellence up the top is what we’re striving for so we’ll keep knocking on the door.”

Star player Kaitlyn Ashmore was confident that the Lions will be able to put this disappointment behind them once again for another strong season in 2019.

“You do feel like maybe it’s a bit of bad luck having two (losses),” she said.

“But we were good this year to put last year behind us and I think we’ll do it again. We’ll use it to drive us but we won’t dwell on it too much.”