Brisbane’s new faces shine as the Lions claim a thrilling Round 1 win over GWS Giants

The talk around Brisbane over the AFLW off-season had been about the big name departures but a handful of new faces were pivotal in the season-opening victory over GWS.

Brisbane players celebrate the win over GWS.

The talk around Brisbane’s AFLW side over the off-season has been about the big name departures but a handful of new faces were pivotal in its season-opening two-point victory over GWS.

With foundation Lions Kaitlyn Ashmore, Britt Gibson, Jamie Stanton and Tahlia Randall joining expansion club North Melbourne, few experts were giving the Lions any hope of making a third straight Grand Final.

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While the class finishing of gun forward Jess Wuetschner stole the match from the Giants as she booted three of Brisbane’s four goals, coach Craig Starcevich heaped praise on a trio making their Lions’ debuts.

With the arrival of veteran Lauren Arnell from Carlton and young draftees Jesse Wardlaw and Lauren Bella - who finally give the Lions’ genuine height in the ruck - Brisbane showed it should not be underestimated with the 4.5 (29) to 4.3 (27) victory over the Giants who are genuine premiership contenders.

Jess Wuetschner celebrates a goal with teammates.

Blue turned Lion Lauren Arnell.

Starcevich said Arnell, 32, showed with her defensive positioning in the final quarter, uninstructed by the coaching staff, that although she may have lost a yard of pace from the legs, the footy brain was still operating at full speed.

“You can’t buy a footy intellect can you, male or female,’’ he said.

“So if you have a smart player in your team they are worth their weight in gold.’’

The draft also delivered some much needed height to the Lions who have been without a genuine ruck option in their first two seasons and have been forced to call on power forward Sabrina Frederick-Traub at times.

Wardlaw and Bella, both Queenslanders, also had excellent debuts.

Cora Staunton gathers under pressure.

Kate Lutkins is chased by Alyce Parker.

“We thought the two young rucks, Wardlaw and Bella were terrific and again they will get better and better as they get older and put a bit more beef on,’’ he said.

“But they were terrific.

“We have undersized ruckmen who have performed really well for us the last couple of years but we knew we had a coupe coming through and now we have some genuine talls who play ruck.’’

He said the win was a brilliant start for the Lions who are in the same conference as the highly rated Giants.

“The opposition are quality … they’re going to be there when the whips are cracking at the end,’’ he said.

“Coming up against someone like them who are in our conference, that’s a good one to get.’’