Senior Brandon Starcevich (2017-)

Remove this Banner Ad

Log in to remove this ad.

Brisbane defender Brandon Starcevich’s self-belief is lifting the Lions

Having contemplated a positional change, Lions young gun Brandon Starcevich is glad he remained a defender.

Brandon Starcevich’s decision to persevere as a defender has proven a wise choice as he inches closer to an AFL premiership with the Brisbane Lions.

Desperate to break into the Lions’ best 22, Starcevich was contemplating reinventing himself as a wingman at the start of the year.

But on the advice of Brisbane backline coach, the West Australian product backed himself to win a spot in the Lions’ talented defensive unit and it has paid dividends.

Having made just five senior appearances in his first two seasons at the club, Starcevich has played in 17 of Brisbane’s 18 games this year, earned a Rising Star nomination, and is one win away from a grand final.

“There was a fair bit of competition for spots in the halfback spot ... I didn’t really know where I sat, to be honest,” the 21-year-old said.

“I was tossing up whether to play on the wing, whether that was my best spot in the team or in trying to get a spot.”

But Davis had other ideas.

“He said ‘no we like you at half-back’. I got a game and then ... been there for the whole year,” Starcevich said.

“Coming into the year, belief and confidence was a big thing. To have the confidence from your coaching staff and the trust from your teammates playing every week ... it’s been a big part of my role.”

As Starcevich’s confidence has grown throughout the year, he has also taken it upon himself to become an attacking threat.

“(It’s about) backing myself in, my pace and my power ... I didn’t really do that much at the start of the year,” he said.

“I was more focused on defending, but then realising I could bring that to the table as well when we got the ball, and go the other way has been pretty big.”

And it’s been with the help of fellow WA boy Daniel Rich, whose ability to start attacks from the half-back line is a key ingredient in Brisbane’s success.

“Working on that offensive game, I usually sit down and watch his tape,” Starcevich said.

“I pick apart how he gets involved in the offence and what he does. He’s been pretty big.

“It’s looking for opportunities. He’s always there lurking around, getting in good spots for handball receives.

“He’s got a big leg and I have the same skills set as him. I’ve got a pretty powerful leg so I try to get in the same spots as him.”

Starcevich said it wasn’t only his belief that had grown in the season, with the Lions confident they can beat anyone having finally a run of 15 successive losses to Richmond last Friday night.

“Having beaten every team in the competition, we know that our best is the best,” he said.

“The one that we were really looking forward to ticking off was Richmond. To get them on the weekend, it was pretty big for us as a football club.”
Click to expand...
 
Really am warming to this guy. It’s not just his improvement but he has a certain drive that you don’t always find. I reckon off the field he would be pretty laid back almost conservative and then once he crosses the whit line it’s all business and focus. Full season under his belt and another few pre-seasons and I will say we might have an AA on our hands.
 
Merrett-Murray Medal 2020

Rookie of the Year

Brandon Starcevich presented by Murray Davis
Click to expand...
 
2020 Player Review: Brandon Starcevich

Brandon Starcevich arrived as an AFL player in 2020

The signs were there from the pre-season when he was the big improver on the track and it came as no surprise when he was named in the side for round one.

He started the season in a new position across half back and never looked like losing his spot as he stormed his way to the Club’s Rookie of the Year award.

The 21-year-old was handed some major assignments throughout the season and thrived under the added responsibility.

By round two it was obvious Starcevich had the trust of the coaches when he was handed the job on Fremantle gun Michael Walters.

He finished that game with a career high 17 disposals and his job in keeping Walters on a tight leash was instrumental in the Lions’ 12 point win.

However it was in the round 15 victory over Collingwood, with All Australian Harris Andrews and forward Tom Fullarton both on the bench injured in the second half where he showed his fight and determination.

His 12 possession game as the Lions’ defence dug deep to deny a Pies outfit camped in their attacking half in a tense final quarter earned him his biggest vote tally of the season in Club Championship voting.

There were also big performances against West Coast, Carlton and the qualifying final against Richmond.

Starcevich will be looking to add a greater offensive element to his game in 2021 and with an abundance of pace, power and a booming kick could push towards a permanent role in the midfield.

He is signed until the end of the 2021.
Click to expand...
 


The Brisbane Lions are excited to announce emerging stars Brandon Starcevich and Zac Bailey have agreed to new deals with the Club.

The pair arrived in Brisbane via the 2017 NAB AFL draft and will continue to play alongside each other until at least the end of 2024 having both signed three-year contract extensions. The 21-year-olds are both low key personalities off the field and excitement machines on it.

After some injury issues in his first two years at the Club, Starcevich burst onto the scene in a big way in 2020, earning a Rising Star nomination and claiming the Lions’ rookie of the year award. “I got a lot of confidence out of last year and to have the Club show their confidence in me by offering this extension will only add to that,’’ he said. “I’m really motivated to try and improve my own game and help make our team better and this is a great environment for that, the coaching group give us every opportunity to learn and develop and I think our senior players really contribute to that. “I am really excited by the future.’’

Lions GM of Football Danny Daly said Starcevich and Bailey had key roles to play in the Club’s future. "This is great news for our footy club,’’ he said. “They are both pretty quiet guys, but they are certainly making their presence felt out on the footy field. “Their determination to constantly improve through hard work is very impressive.

“It is exciting when young players start to generate the belief that they can help propel the team forward and begin to not only feel comfortable in the big moments in games but relish them and that’s what we are seeing with both Zac and Brandon.’’
Click to expand...
View attachment 1070981
 
Starcevich The New Lions' Tamer

Bullfight critics ranked in rows

Crowd the enormous plaza full;

But he’s the only one who knows —

And he’s the man who fights the bull.
Click to expand...
Brisbane Lions defender Brandon Starcevich must feel like the living incarnation of Domingo Ortega’s bull fighter.

Starcevich is the “one” the Lions turn to each weekend to “fight the bull” — the AFL’s premier small forwards.

They can change the flow of a game in two or three kicks, so it’s huge respect from the Brisbane match committee with Starcevich in only his fourth AFL season.

With Starcevich’s breath on their shoulder and his feet at their heels this season, Tom Papley, Jordan de Goey, Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti and Robbie Gray have found goals as elusive as common sense in the pandemic, managing just the one each.

He is the Lions’ tamer.

At the end of his career, Starcevich will have added much more to his repertoire. Noted as a contested inside midfield beast before he was drafted from East Perth colts at pick 18 in 2017, he’s also highly rated by the Lions for his field kicking — which is why they were able to release another quality kick Alex Witherden to West Coast at the end of last season.

For now, Starcevich is embracing the contest against high-calibre opponents.

“Every one (small forward) is different with their tools and traits,” Starcevich told The West Australian. “Planning each week is a real challenge.”

On Sunday at the Gabba, he’ll front up against Fremantle’s Michael Walters, who kicked two goals in their last match-up in round two of last season.

“I learnt a lot last year playing on him,” Starcevich said.

“He doesn’t need much room to do some damage, especially at forward-50 stoppages or when he gets off the chain. One or two steps and he is kicking at goal. He’s a really tough player and can do some incredible things, so I’ll have to be right on him and make him work for it.”

Starcevich is also expecting early push back from a Fremantle side coming off a 59-point derby belting and unexpectedly on the road after the two teams’ round eight and 21 fixtures were flipped because of WA’s COVID restrictions.

“There will be a fire in their belly, they will want to rectify their performance last week and we are ready for that. With their situation at the moment they will be trying to set the tone early, to set standard for their (road) trip. We will try and make it hard for them,” Starcevich said.

He’s relieved one of those small forwards, Charlie Cameron, is on his side. Cameron has mirrored the Lions’ season. After a stuttering start, he’s back near his best, underlined by four goals in the Lions belting of Port at the Gabba last round.

“You can tell around the club he is up and about. He is loving life at the moment. He is definitely a barometer for us and when he gets going it lifts the whole team,” Starcevich said.

A product of Mt Lawley Inglewood Junior Football Club and Trinity College, Starcevich said he is starting to feel at home at AFL level after 18 games last season on the heels of two difficult seasons hampered by injury.

The lock down last year forced the team to work largely in line groups, forging a unity with fellow defenders Harris Andrews, Daniel Rich, Grant Birchall, Ryan Lester and Marcus Adams.

“We formed some pretty close bonds,” he said. “It’s been pretty stable our back six to eight. Chemistry and relationships are getting stronger and we have definitely learnt how to play with each other more.”

This week’s fixture flip hasn’t presented the Lions with any issues. They found out early (on Tuesday) and have become used to quick change anyway in the COVID landscape.

The Lions had to do some swift manoeuvring when they were literally pulled from the team bus en route to the airport after their round two loss to Geelong due to a COVID outbreak in Brisbane.

Their round three clash with Collingwood at the Gabba was switched to Marvel Stadium in Melbourne. But they found a way to win against the Pies — by a solitary point — and get their season moving.

“You have to be really adaptable. We have had a hiccup at the start of the year when we got stuck in Melbourne. You just have to be ready for anything. It’s all about mindset and how you see the opportunity as more of a challenge and get the most out of it,” he said.

Starcevich said the two post-season games he played in last year — including a qualifying final win over Richmond — had given him belief.

“I took a lot of confidence playing those games and playing a couple of finals you get a taste for it and realise that you are up to the level and can play well in the big games,” he said.

“It’s a step up in intensity. It’s talked about a lot that it does go to another level, but it really does. You have to be quick with decisions.”
Click to expand...
 

(Log in to remove this ad.)

2021 Mid-Season Re-cap

THE ANONYMOUS ONE

Sometimes stats don’t provide a true picture. Take Brandon Starcevich. He’s averaged 9.3 possessions (3.7 contested), 1.75 tackles and 2.1 one-percenters (spoils, smothers, shepherds etc) this season and ranks nowhere.

But as a lockdown defender, capable of playing on opponents of all sizes, he’s been a standout. Never beaten. And if there was an award for the League’s most improved player he’d be right in the conversation.
Click to expand...
 
Starcevich Enters the Record Books

Brandon Starcevich is set to claim a slice of Brisbane Football Club history on Thursday night, playing his 37th game in the #37 guernsey as the Lions host Geelong at the Gabba.

And barring injury in Round 19, the emerging backline star will go on to hold the record for most games played in #37 across the entire Brisbane/Fitzroy family with his 42nd game.

In something of a statistical out-rider, Starcevich shares the Brisbane record of 36 games in #37 with 1988 Bears Club Champion Mark Withers, and is closing on Collingwood turned Fitzroy player Keith Bromage, who played 41 games for the ‘old’ Lions from 1958-61.

Starcevich is one of four current Lions players to top the club games list in their chosen number. The others are Dan McStay (#25), Harris Andrews (#31) and Oscar McInerney (#46).
Click to expand...
 
How Starce Won Over Footy Fans

Starce.png


2021 was the year everyone else got in on the secret.

Brandon Starcevich won over Lions fans last year with a breakout season across half back which earned him the Rookie of the Year award at the Club Champions night.

But when the 2021 season dawned, few outside Queensland were talking about the miserly defender.

That all changed as he set about claiming the scalps of the best small forwards in the competition from the first game of the year.

Over a blistering first half of the season Starcevich shut down Tom Papley, Jordan de Goey, Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti, Robbie Gray, Michael Walters, Eddie Betts and Izak Rankine.

By then he was in the All-Australian discussion as, one-by-one, football commentators from Victoria began to sing his praises.

He would go on to play every game for the Club in his fourth year and maintain the same high standards each week. Although he plays the role as the shutdown defender, he also began to gather more of the footy and his explosive pace and booming right leg started to become a weapon.

Ultimately, he would miss selection in the All Australian side as the selectors went for more familiar faces, but there is little doubt he is no longer an unknown quantity to opposition coaches and forwards across the competition.

Inside the Lions his value is well and truly appreciated as he finished fourth in the Merrett-Murray medal, the best among the Club’s defenders.

Standout Performance: 'The Glove' Silences Dusty

Having silenced the likes of Papley, De Goey and Gray just weeks earlier, Brisbane's Round 10 clash against Richmond was Starcevich's biggest test yet.

The football world spent the week salivating at his potential match-up with Dustin Martin, and they weren't disappointed.

Martin was kept goalless as Starcevich locked down on the 2x Norm Smith Medallist.

The 22-year-old also managed to collect 17 disposals while also managing 3 marks in a performance that caught the eye of commentators across the country.

Season Averages:

Disposals - 12.4

Kicks - 9

Marks - 3.8

Metres Gained - 252.5

Tackles - 1.7
Click to expand...
 
Starcevich Happy to Fly Under the Radar

Starce-AFL-Article.png


While his Uncle Craig tries to guide Brisbane's AFLW team into a second successive Grand Final at the MCG on Saturday, Brandon Starcevich will reach his own milestone at the Gabba later that night.

Following a slow start to his career, the Lions' defensive stopper has quickly become a mainstay of their team and will notch 50 games against North Melbourne.

Injuries slowed him down after being taken with the 18th pick in the 2017 NAB AFL Draft, but since Chris Fagan gave him a chance in defence in 2020, Starcevich hasn't looked back.

"For me it was finding some consistency with my footy early on," Starcevich said on Thursday.

"I was battling a few niggles, but I always had the backing of Fages and the other coaches. They always put a lot of belief in me and trust in me.

"I knew if I got a decent run at it, I'd go alright."

Starcevich has missed just one game since the start of 2020 and was rarely beaten last season when assigned the opposition's best small forward.

With Harris Andrews, Marcus Adams and Darcy Gardiner taking the taller opponents, the quietly spoken 22-year-old defended everyone from Dustin Martin to Tom Papley.

"The fans might not want to see it, it's not the most glamorous role, but I take a lot of pride in my role and shutting down the best forwards," he said.

"I'm a pretty competitive guy. That's what I've built my game off, loving the contest and going from there. I love the one-on-one stuff.

"I try and stay out of the limelight. I'll leave that to Charlie (Cameron) and Mitch (Robinson), those guys can lap it up all they want.

"I'm pretty happy to fly under the radar."
Click to expand...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

dlanod
Senior Brandon Ryan (2023-)
Replies
23
Views
2K
ZoBlitz
ZoBlitz

Remove this Banner Ad

Back
Top