Brisbane coach Craig Starcevich is hoping it will be a case of third time lucky when his Lions tackle the Adelaide Crows in the AFLW grand final next weekend.
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The Lions qualified for the decider with a tense four-point win over Collingwood in hot conditions at the Gabba.
The lead changed several times in the see-sawing battle, but it was a resolute Brisbane team who scored 7.3 (45) to 6.5 (41) to secure victory.
Brisbane's win means they now face the daunting task of playing minor premiers the Crows at their home ground at Adelaide Oval.
While the Lions have been to the grand final before, having lost in 2017 to Adelaide and in 2018 to the Western Bulldogs, Starcevich said this year's circumstances were different, with no finals series before those deciders and a longer home-and-away season this year.
Proud of his team after edging the tough Magpies, Starcevich was hopeful of repeating this hard-nosed win in next week's season finale.
"The team is completely different - we've only got eight left from those first two years (grand finals)," Starcevich said.
"We're going to go interstate to play, which is going to have its challenges, but what an opportunity."
Starcevich said the Lions' inexperienced players would have to cut down on their errors to beat the battle-hardened Crows.
"Our young ones tonight made some horrible blunders, but they're going to learn from those experiences and get better, so that's been the case all year," he said.
It was not an easy win for the Lions, with the Magpies bursting out of the blocks in the first quarter before holding a two-point lead heading into the last term.
But final quarter goals to Brisbane's Greta Bodey and Dakota Davidson were enough to secure the win for the Lions.
A captivating battle between Brisbane's Catherine Svarc (11 disposals, 8 tackles) and star Magpie Bri Davey (23 disposals) was a highlight, as was the forward presence of Davidson (3 goals).
Ally Anderson was also strong for the home team with 24 possessions, while Brittany Bonnici battled well for the visitors.
While disappointed in the result, Collingwood coach Steve Symonds said he was proud of his team's effort in the game, and right across the 2021 season.
"It was a fantastic game of footy, it could have gone either way in the end," Symonds said.
"From a coach's perspective, from what our playing group has put up this year and particularly the last couple of weeks, we've got so much fight in us.
"There was a couple of times today we lost momentum ... but we were able to fight back again."
Australian Associated Press
