‘Coin of football’: How each side tackles the different emotions that come with grand final day
There’s a photo of Belle Dawes that became one of the defining images of Brisbane’s 2023 premiership campaign.
After winning the preliminary final against Geelong to book the team’s fifth grand final appearance in competition history, Dawes was captured crying and falling in the arms of teammates Shannon Campbell and Cathy Svarc.
A week later, another photo of Dawes became one of the moments of the decider.
Dawes jumped on teammate Dakota Davidson and let out a roar with her arms spread wide after the forward star kicked a goal to put the Lions in front against North Melbourne in the final quarter.
Brisbane’s Belle Dawes expressing emotions during the 2023 finals series.
Brisbane ended up winning the game — and the premiership — by 17 points, clinching the club’s second AFLW flag in eight seasons.
In doing so, they snatched North Melbourne’s maiden premiership away from them, which the Kangaroos had one hand on leading into the last quarter of the grand final.
Now the two sides will meet again in a rematch of the decider on Saturday night at Princes Park.
The main narrative for the Kangaroos is whether they can get revenge on the Lions who delivered them devastation and heartbreak a year ago. And for Brisbane: will they be able to get the first back-to-back premierships in AFLW history?
And how will each side manage the added emotions that come into play during a decider?
‘That’s the coin of footy’
Somewhat strangely, Brisbane will go into the match as underdogs. It’s a position Lions defender Nat Grider said they are used to.
“The club has just been so successful since its inception and [yet] I think we get written off a little bit sometimes,” Grider said.
“I don’t know what [other] AFLW team has played in six of the, what, eight grand finals. But we’ll go into this weekend the underdogs, like usual, and I think that sort of works for us. We play our best footy when people doubt us… it’s nice to sort of prove people wrong.”
Nat Grider and Jas Garner go head-to-head in round one, 2024.
It’s something Brisbane coach Craig Starcevich will use to motivate his side, according to former Lions player and now commentator Kate McCarthy.
“Brisbane will love that — and that comes back to that Victorian bias,” McCarthy said on the Footy with Broden Kelly podcast.
“The narrative before the game [will be]: ‘We are the defending premiers, we are the ones that have the cup, we are the ones who beat them here last year and we are still not respected’.
“That is the pre-game speech. That’ll be what he rolls out.”
Grider said while her side “don’t really need any extra ammo to fire us up”, a shot at redemption — North Melbourne beat Brisbane by 44 points in round one — could be used as “the one per cent” extra on top of the work they have already done to reach the grand final.
Lions head coach Craig Starcevich speaks to players during the round 10 AFLW match between Brisbane Lions and Melbourne.
Dawes describes Starcevich as a “storyteller”, who ties the emotional side of the game back to the fans. Grider added: “Oh god, yeah, he’s a man of many words”.
“But he always talks about the emotions of the way the Brisbane Lions’ fans feel, and if we get a loss, you know, are they still proud to be like, ‘Oh, our team performed and they played well’?,” Dawes said.
“Or even if a person rocks up and they know nothing about AFLW, they can go, ‘Oh, that blue, gold and maroon team. They work hard, they’re desperate, they play for each other’. And that’s kind of the emotion we want our fans to feel.”
North Melbourne’s Bella Eddey is tackled by Brisbane’s Belle Dawes in the 2024 grand final.
As for Dawes personally, she leans into the emotions of games.
“I know for me, I’m all about feeling the game,” she said.
“What’s the opposition giving, the field, even just like the energy from the fans, and I’ll just kind of lean into that and let that just flow, because I feel like I try to force an emotion or feeling, that’s when I’m not playing my best.”
The team met with club legend Leigh Matthews recently, who delivered a speech to galvanise the group.
“He was saying ‘that’s the coin of footy’. You have this extreme high, which we’ve been able to experience twice, which is, it’s indescribable, but you can’t have that without the sadness and the lows that it brings after a loss.
“So it’s pretty cool to experience both. And I know that’s probably why last year was so emotional to be back there.”
‘Effort, blood, sweat and tears’
On the other side of the coin to the underdogs in this year’s grand final is the undefeated. North Melbourne pulled off the incredible feat of going 12 games without a loss heading into this season’s decider, their only blemish a draw with Geelong.
Bella Eddey celebrates a goal in North Melbourne’s qualifying final win against Adelaide.
Of course, there are emotions tied to this. Kangaroos’ Bella Eddey said the feeling on the final siren of their preliminary win against Port Adelaide was “just a lot of relief” after going into the year as outright flag favourites.
However, Roos coach Darren Crocker didn’t use the devastation of the grand final loss to power the dominant season.
“It hasn’t really been mentioned by Crock [the grand final loss last season],” she said.
“He’s very much a focus on the present, what we’ve got to do, kind of person.
“I think we’re not really a team that kind of rides the emotions too much.”
Eddey admitted that while the team focused on the systems within football, it’s hard to not want another shot at the team who beat them last year.
North Melbourne players pictured at the final siren of last year’s grand final loss.
However, as much as players can use that as motivation, once Sunday’s game starts, it’s just another match of football.
“It’s definitely something that sits in the back of your mind, that we’ve lost that game last year to them,” she said.
“[But] football doesn’t change, whether it’s round one or grand final … the game doesn’t change. So I think there is a big emotional build up. But the players who stay the most calm, end up having the best days.”
Eddey added last season, being their first grand final appearance as a team, the Kangaroos were riding the high of getting there, while this year they’ve been a lot calmer in their approach.
By all accounts, they haven’t even watched the grand final replay in full as a team. It’s not something Crocker wants them to focus on.
Darren Crocker talks to players during an North Melbourne captain’s run at Arden Street ahead of the grand final.
The other side of storytelling and words is systems and structure: something Roos ruck Emma King said their coach is all about.
“We never looked at it as a redemption game when we versed [sic] them in round one. That takes it externally, so Crock’s very much about: ‘How can we get better?” King said.
“And I think the way that he goes about his coaching is always very calm. He’s very process driven, very methodical, and that’s shown in our game plan.”
Whichever way the teams, and players within them, approach the biggest game of the year, one thing is almost certain: there will be tears following the final siren, whether that be Dawes and Grider or Eddey and King lifting the cup in elation or walking off in the heartbreak that balances out the story of football.
