BRISBANE coach Craig Starcevich says "stoic" forward Dakota Davidson has bounced back from an incident of crowd abuse at the weekend and is ready to face Hawthorn in Sunday's qualifying final.
As revealed exclusively by AFL.com.au on Monday, Davidson was left in tears at RSEA Park, playing the game out against St Kilda before the incident was investigated by the AFL.
Speaking on Thursday, Starcevich said the incident had rocked his star forward, but with the support of her teammates, coaches, friends and family, Davidson was getting back to her usual, vibrant self.
"She's been great," Starcevich said.
"She's a stoic person and gets on with stuff generally, but these are the things that rock her a little bit and probably her teammates and coaches as well, to be honest.
"The comments she received is not something she hasn't heard before, but it doesn't make it any less hurtful.
"Those things are eating away at her a little bit.
"She knows where she stands in terms of the love of her teammates and people around her and her family and friends.
"That part of it is always pretty reassuring. She's come in here with her usual smile and attitude on Tuesday and I expect the same tonight."
Starcevich said crowd behaviour had improved dramatically over recent years and believed these occurrences were becoming more isolated.
"The environment to take your family to the footy is as good as it's ever been," he said.
"You don't have to sit there with your kids and put up with comments over the fence that are personally derogatory towards an opponent. It's a completely different environment, which is great for all of us."
Starcevich said he was excited about facing a Hawks team led by former Lions assistant coach Daniel Webster at Ikon Park for the right to host a preliminary final.
"We're cut from the same cloth, in terms of we want to play attacking, attractive footy and his team has been the epitome of that this season.
"From a neutral's perspective, I'd expect it's going to be quick and open and fast.
"They'll want to slow us down and we'll want to slow them down.
"We can talk about what might happen, but once we get out there and get going, we'll see what it looks like."
