DISAPPOINTMENT was Craig Starcevich's first thought after Brisbane's 30-point Grand Final loss to North Melbourne on Saturday evening.

The next, however, was pure respect for the opposition.

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"Pretty disappointed, obviously, but full of admiration for the opposition to be honest," Starcevich said post-match.

"They pressured us into submission, the same way we normally do to opponents, so all the little things with how quick and panicky our disposals were, and our loss of structure at times. And their quick ball movement to get themselves into good scoring positions were terrific.

"What I saw in the first half today was the best footy I've ever seen in the AFLW, to be honest. And we were on the receiving end just trying to keep our heads above water to be competitive."

It is a position that Starcevich has been in before, unfortunately four times across his time as the Lions' head coach. But with the loss, there was also a sense of solidarity with Roos coach Darren Crocker, with whom he now shares the rare honour of winning an AFL premiership as a player, and an AFLW premiership as a coach.

"'Crock' is a great guy. Our footy careers pretty much followed the same path as well, we're a similar age, we enjoy what we're doing now, our teams are good. So, it's been great to play against each other in the last two Grand Finals," Starcevich said.

He also paid credit to Best on Ground medallist Jasmine Garner, who his Lions simply couldn't stop as the game wore on. First, Jade Ellenger was handed the task, before captain Breanna Koenen reprised her run-with role that was so effective in last year's premiership win.

But nothing worked.

"We had Jade on her for the first bit because we thought we could counter a little bit with Jade as well," Starcevich explained.

"She could get off and get her own disposals, which wasn't diabolical early, it was actually not too bad ... But she's finished the game really strongly. Really, really good player. For all the things that she's probably deserved over her career, it's nice that she's got this one.

"I think that's fitting, to be honest."

But premierships are only getting harder, and harder to win in the AFLW, as the League gets more competitive.

"It's nice that you show up every year and you're in contention. That's the first bit, and that's all you can really hope for. We start every pre-season campaign with the aim of winning the flag," Starcevich said.

"But, before you win the flag, you've got to get to the Grand Final. So, to actually get there for the amount of times we have is enormous for our program and our club and the character of the players. I think that's something that's always been pretty strong with our group. But yeah, it's a bitter one to have to swallow and then it's such a long, hard road to get there.

"Now, I think our competition is batting pretty deep, when you consider the couple of teams that didn't make the finals this year, and others who were in the finals, it's going to be harder and harder to win, so we just have to keep getting better, basically."