HAWTHORN coach Daniel Webster isn't entirely sure what transpired on the final siren of Sunday's qualifying final to spark a melee between Brisbane and the Hawks, but admitted his players' reaction indicated an incident.

The clash between the playing groups in front of the benches was allegedly sparked by some comments from the crowd, directed at former Lion, now Hawthorn captain Emily Bates.

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"I'm not sure what was said, but generally when there's a reaction like what our girls had, that generally means something might have been there," Webster said.

Brisbane coach Craig Starcevich said the fiery scenes were "not the way you want to finish a game", but said he hadn't seen much of it.

First-year coach Webster said he was "proud" of his young side despite their six-point loss to Brisbane, but has rebuffed the notion that the Hawks landed a top-four spot with an 'easy' home and away draw.

Speculation in recent weeks has been that Hawthorn's fixture helped it to its second-placed finish, but Webster took exception to that theory.

"To be honest, I find that fascinating. When I looked through the draw at the start of the year and I did my calculations, I had us with the seventh-hardest draw in the competition, and then, just because you win games and other teams don't, then all of a sudden, it's easy," Webster said post-match.

"So, that actually infuriates me a little bit, and it's disrespectful to a lot of the teams we have played. So yeah, I just don't buy into that at all."

While the Hawks pushed last year's premiers to the final minute in an important message to the remaining finalists, the former Lions assistant coach was left ruing his side's inaccuracy in front of goal.

The Hawks finished with four more scoring shots than the Lions, but fell one major short.

"It's never good when you lose games of football, especially when you have four more scoring shots. I'm proud of the group, proud of the effort," Webster said.

"I thought the way they handled the pressure and intensity of the game was really good, and fought it out until the end. So, I think we'll be better for the run, and if we learn from it the right way, we should be hard to beat from here on in.

"The reality is, you need to finish your work, and good teams finish their work, and that's what we need to learn to do. I think we do walk away knowing that we'll get a lot of confidence, because you're able to run the defending premiers, who were stretched because they were feeling the pressure as well."

Brisbane midfielder Belle Dawes is likely to come under the scrutiny of the Match Review Officer after a clumsy hit on Hawthorn defender Ainslie Kemp early in the second quarter had the Hawk undergo – and pass – a head injury assessment.

"It's hard to see with the camera angle, but it didn't look much in it. Belle Dawes is a fair player, so I just thought she was going at the footy," Webster said.

The Lions have now earned a week's rest, something coach Craig Starcevich is relieved with after three away trips in the last four weeks.

"Brisbane to Melbourne flights were getting a little bit tedious there for a little while, we've done three in the last four," Starcevich said.

"I think it potentially can knock you around a little bit."

After an incident of crowd abuse last week, Lions spearhead Dakota Davidson opened the scoring for her side, before slotting another vital goal in the final quarter.

"She looks like she's wanting to get going. She's missed a couple of games this year, and she just looks like she's demanding the ball," Starcevich said.

"That's exactly the attitude you want from your key forwards, and she's had that at training for the last month, without being able to really execute on game day. But it looks like it's getting closer every week."