AT BRISBANE success and Craig Starcevich seem to go hand-in-hand.

Starcevich has been at the club in varying capacities for every single one of its premierships – two in the AFLW, and five in the AFL – over two separate stints, one in the early 2000s as the men’s high-performance manager, and a second since 2016 as its AFLW head coach.

He was also the first person to claim both a women’s and men’s flag – one as a player in 1990, and two as coach in 2021 and 2023. Starcevich simply knows what it takes to be the best.

And on Saturday, he will once again put his name in the record books as he becomes the first AFLW coach to notch up 100 games on the headset.

Finding a way to bring Brisbane’s women’s and men’s programs together has been a crucial part of the success, both for what a women’s side has done to grow the club, but also what the experience within the men’s program can offer.

His knack of bridging the gap means Lachie Neale often pops by to offer his guidance, or Harris Andrews joins Irishwoman Jennifer Dunne to discuss defensive nous.

“We were talking about some stuff that we needed to fix with our craft, and I grabbed Lachie Neale the other day and just said ‘Have you got two minutes to just come and talk to the crew about bits and pieces, and not getting frustrated with not seeing results instantly’, or whatever the topic was,” Starcevich told AFL.com.au.

“And he’s like ‘Yeah, where are you? Auditorium? Yep,’ that sort of stuff happens a bit. Jennifer (Dunne) sitting down with Harris Andrews and going over vision together on a Monday night. Those sorts of experiences around our footy club are common, and I think it’s great for the whole workplace.

“The respect for each other is very high as professionals, and it’s a great workplace to be around at the moment.”

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That keenness to harness what the club has to offer isn’t a new phenomenon for Starcevich. When building his first assistant coaching panel ahead of the inaugural AFLW season, finding names that were recognisable and could bring professional standards to the budding League was part of the strategy.

“Getting some assistant coaches on board that our fan base knew, just so that it would pique the attention of the average Lions punter. So, you know, Brent Staker who was recently out of the game, Daniel Merrett who was recently out of the game,” Starcevich said.

“Both high quality guys, not a whole lot of coaching experience, but that didn’t matter. What I needed from them was to show the way from a professional standards point of view.”

It was decisions such as this that got Lions fans on board with the new addition to the club, and allowed them to set the high off-field standards that have been their brand from the word go.

But none of this happens without a chance office assignment over in Western Australia nearly a decade earlier.

Following his time in the high-performance space both in the AFL and the A League, Starcevich was keen to dip his toe in the waters of talent identification and recruiting. A job came up in WA that encompassed it all, so he moved back to his home state to take up the opportunity.

“Basically, it’s the talent manager and the coaching manager in WA for all their programs over there, all their high-performance stuff, and working over there in the office right next door to me is Jan Cooper,” Starcevich said.

Cooper is a pioneer of women’s footy, currently the wellbeing manager for West Coast’s AFLW program, and a board member at the club, she was instrumental in the development of the girls’ national championships and talent pathways prior to the AFLW’s launch in 2017.

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“So, ‘Coops’ is in my ear regularly about how do we start the same talent program for the girls as the boys have had established for eons. That’s where it all sort of started, Coops and I forged a nice relationship in those couple of years that I was there.”

Prior to that, Starcevich hadn’t considered a career in the women’s space. Granted, there wasn’t an AFLW coaching role to aspire to, but Cooper’s persistence set him on the path.

He coached Queensland in national championships, putting northern talent like Tahlia Randall, Ally Anderson, and Tayla Harris on the big stage for the first time, and took the reins during the pre-AFLW exhibition matches.

“All these little jobs I thought wouldn’t count for much in terms of the overall thing, but it’s actually been a really nice little jigsaw puzzle of experiences that have actually helped this whole process,” Starcevich said.

Now, he finds joy not only in propelling Brisbane toward repeat AFLW finals series’ – it’s played in each of the last three Grand Finals, and missed the post-season just once – but in winning Queensland talent to the code in a busy market.

The early days of getting kids into the sport were about teaching those who had never touched a Sherrin to approach the contest in a way that would protect them physically, and ensuring the understanding of basic skills and rules.

“There was some technical stuff going on there that needed correcting, otherwise we were going to hurt some people. But it was amazing how quickly the numbers grew, and AFL had a credible place in the landscape. And I’m talking school aged kids, and in Queensland we’re continually – whether it’s the boys or the girls – you’re fighting for a spot in the market,” Starcevich explained.

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“It’s super competitive at the moment, and AFLW has been a huge driver of that. So, you know, the best athletes that are coming through high school are now actually seriously saying, ‘I’ve got a choice between netball, basketball, soccer, and AFL, and I’ve chosen AFL’. So, that’s a great place for us to be in our state.”

And now, in another indicator of the growth of the women’s game in Queensland, this week he is preparing to lead his Lions into the seventh edition of the AFLW QClash. Although, it will be just his sixth.

Back in 2020, Starcevich missed the inaugural iteration of the rivalry – the only time the Lions haven’t won the clash, coming away with a draw instead.

“It’s not that big of a story,” Starcevich laughed.

“I like bike riding… I decided, from my place in late February, which is still stinking (hot) in Queensland, to go an hour and a half ride up near my place to Noosa and back. And (I) probably didn’t drink enough on the trip, and a little bit of bother with a little bit of irregular heart activity going on.

“So, yeah, self-inflicted… Always take more water than you need.”

What the Starcevich-led Lions have been capable of across the history of the AFLW is plucking out players with untapped potential across the Queensland state league. Raided by expansion on three separate occasions, the club was forced to find talent where others couldn’t.

Those efforts bore the likes of Dakota Davidson, Cathy Svarc, and Greta Bodey.

“That challenge of getting out there and having a look at the state league and trying to find a diamond in the rough, which I’m happy, and ‘Daks’ will support me on this, she was definitely that,” Starcevich said.

“She was this crazy forward playing for University of Queensland, but the thing that stood out for me was that she had really good hands, and great kicking technique. I’m like ‘Geez, this kid who’s just slipped through and not been on the talent radar has bobbed up at one of our state league clubs and gosh, she clunks the ball like she’s been playing footy forever’.”

Nearly 10 years into his career as an AFLW coach, Starcevich has stuck fat with the Lions, and over that time he has seen some change in himself. There is the rollercoaster of life, sure, as he lives on the Sunshine Coast during AFLW season, and in Switzerland in the off season, but it’s his approach to the role that has changed the most.

“I reckon I started off coaching female players as girls, and now I coach them as players. It’s definitely changed me,” Starcevich admitted.

And has he got another 100 games in him?

“Probably not. Depends on how long the season goes for.