SOMETIMES it's just not your day.

Unfortunately for Brisbane, that came in the biggest game of the season.

In Saturday's Grand Final, the Lions were pressured "into submission" by North Melbourne, according to coach Craig Starcevich, and that submission created a domino effect of problems.

The Roos relentlessly applied immense pressure, not just through tackles, but simply closing down space to create an element of worry and second-guessing among the Lions. This was a concern from the opening siren, which immediately snatched away any sense of calm or composure from Brisbane – something the side typically oozes.

Where the Lions were fumbling and unable to cleanly gather the footy, North Melbourne was the opposite. Quick, neat, and devastating.

Importantly, when Brisbane did find some control of the footy, breaking through the Kangaroos' defensive structures was the next huge problem.

With great trust in their midfielders and wingers, the Roos' defenders keep a seriously disciplined structure behind the ball. While the Lions needed their forwards to come up to the play to support at the contest, North Melbourne was able to keep its layered defence in place.

So, in the rare moments that Brisbane got the ball moving with speed in space, it was eventually slowed as players would look up and see nothing but blue and white guernseys. As a result, the Lions generated just 20 inside 50s for the match – their lowest since the 2022 (S7) Grand Final – and lowest shot efficiency in the club's AFLW history, generating a shot on goal from just 15 per cent of those entries.

All of this culminated in a score of just nine points, the club's equal-second lowest in its 93 games.

What North Melbourne also did especially well was shut down a host of Lions stars, across all lines.

Sophie Conway spent much of the game in the forward line contending with Roo Sarah Wright, and simply struggled to get involved. Conway finished with just nine disposals, and failed to worry the scoreboard, both due to Wright's steadfast defensive performance, and the limited opportunities coming her way.

Key forward combination Taylor Smith and Dakota Davidson had some almost moments, but were worried out of a typically commanding presence close to goal because of the work of Jasmine Ferguson and Libby Birch. The Lion duo combined for just four disposals and three marks, also failing to register any score for the day.

And at the other end of the ground, powerful rebounding defender Natalie Grider – who was so crucial in the club's preliminary final victory over Adelaide – couldn't establish her usual attacking launches from the back half. The need to focus on containing the Roos' small forward contingent, including Jenna Bruton and Alice O'Loughlin, and the rate at which the ball was entering the Lions' defensive 50, prevented Grider from getting her dangerous attacking game going.

Grider's season averages of 14.3 disposals and 147.3 metres gained heading into the Grand Final were diminished to just six disposals and 54 metres gained on Saturday evening.

Meanwhile captain Breanna Koenen also had her hands full with powerful Roo Vikki Wall for most of the match, again preventing her damaging rebounding efforts from coming into play.

For Brisbane, each problem – and an attempt to solve it – created new problems, until it all just became too much.

An inability to consistently gather the footy neatly became a desire to bring more numbers up to the contest. A worried mindset when they did get the ball created panicked use and turnover. Extra numbers around the play created a negative outnumber in the attacking half.

And in the end, that all meant a fourth Grand Final loss in nine seasons.