LIVELY Brisbane forward Jess Wuetschner starred in an unfamiliar position as the Lions accounted for Gold Coast by 16 points in the first QW Winter Series match.
The two Queensland women's teams are playing off in a three-game series across winter to assist with the development of AFLW, QAFLW and top-ranked under-18 players.
Wuetschner lined up across half-back and was named Brisbane's best player, while Shannon Campbell also found herself in unfamiliar territory up forward, booting a goal.
State league player Dakota Davidson (University of Queensland) kicked two majors for the Lions in the second half.
"She's been good, and she's steadily gotten better in each of her three seasons with UQ in the QAFLW," coach Craig Starcevich told aflq.com.au.
"You can't fault her endeavour. She really attacked the ball hard in the air. She got after her opponents at ground level with a couple of big contests, but importantly too, she hit the scoreboard as well."
Former Lions Jacqui Yorston and Lauren Bella starred for the Suns, working well in tandem in the midfield and ruck respectively.
Under-18 academy signings Charlotte Hammans, Kitara Whap-Farrar and Ellie Hampson also impressed.
"I was pretty impressed with the respect they showed for each other and the way they worked together, it gave me a lot to look forward to going forward," Suns inaugural coach David Lake told the club website.
"The message was you couldn't make a mistake, I would accept whatever you did. I wanted them to just enjoy playing together and chance their arm a little bit and see what they came up with.
"Our defence was pretty resilient in the way they went about it, and we had a group of girls that really worked well together, who have never met each other before."
Round two of the QW Winter Series will be played on Saturday, June 23 in Mackay.
QW Winter Series Round One
Gold Coast 2.3 (15) lost to Brisbane 4.7 (31)
GOALS
Gold Coast: Smith 2
Brisbane: Davidson 2, Campbell, Findlay
BEST
Gold Coast: Yorston, Ritson, Surman, Bella, Smith
Brisbane: Wuestchner, Grider, Lugg, Bates, Postlethwaite
