Craig Starcevich

Craig Starcevich (born 16 May 1967) is a former Australian rules footballer and current senior coach. Starcevich played for  and the  in the Australian Football League (AFL), known as the Victorian Football League (VFL) prior to 1990. He is the current senior coach of  in the AFL Women's (AFLW), having led the team since its inception. Starcevich is the only person in Australian rules football history to win both an AFL and an AFLW premiership, having won the latter as coach.

Playing career 
Starcevich was recruited from East Perth, for whom he played 37 games for after he won the 1986 F. D. Book Medal for being judged their best and fairest player. On the back of this, Starcevich was recruited to Collingwood in the VFL.

Starcevich made his VFL debut in 1987. He played the role of a key-position player, coming off the bench in Collingwood's 1990 premiership side to be a solid contributor during the grand final. He played 124 games and kicked 162 goals for Collingwood before moving to the Brisbane Bears at the end of 1993 as part of the trade that saw Nathan Buckley go to Collingwood. He played 20 games and kicked 16 goals for the Bears before retiring at the end of 1995.

Coaching career

Fitness coaching 
Following his retirement from AFL football as a player, Starcevich became one of the most prominent fitness trainers in the AFL. 

In 2006, he was recruited as part of the St Kilda Football Club's head of training services in an attempt to turn around the club's large injury list in the 2005 season. During the 2006 pre-season, Starcevich adopted a controversial policy whereby players were banned from wearing thongs, citing the fact that they could increase the risk of injuries to feet. He left the Saints before the 2007 season, citing "family reasons".

In March 2007, Starcevich joined A-League team Queensland Roar as strength and conditioning coach.

Senior coaching 
In June 2016, Starcevich was appointed head coach of the Brisbane Lions women's team. Starcevich guided the Lions to the minor premiership in the inaugural season of AFL Women's in 2017. By finishing first, the Lions qualified for the 2017 AFL Women's Grand Final. The team lost to the Adelaide Crows in the decider. In the league's second season, the Lions once again lost the Grand Final by six points under Starcevich, in a game which ended 27–21 in favour of the Western Bulldogs.

Since arriving in Brisbane at the end of 1993, Starcevich has been involved in every one of the Brisbane Lions' four premierships (three AFL and one AFLW) and seven grand final appearances (four AFL & three AFLW).

Personal life 
Starcevich's son Jackson played for Collingwood in the VFL, and nephew Brandon currently plays for Brisbane in the AFL.

Coaching statistics
Statistics are correct to the end of the 2021 season

|- style="background-color: #EAEAEA"
! scope="row" style="font-weight:normal"|2017
|
| 8 || 6 || 1 || 1 || 75% || 1 || 8
|-
! scope="row" style="font-weight:normal"|2018
|
| 8 || 4 || 4 || 0 || 50% || 2 || 8
|-
! scope="row" style="font-weight:normal"|2019
|
| 7 || 2 || 5 || 0 || 28.57% || 9 || 10
|-
! scope="row" style="font-weight:normal"|2020
|
| 6 || 3 || 3 || 0 || 50% || 7 || 14
|-
! scope="row" style="font-weight:normal"|2021
|
| 11 || 9 || 2 || 0 || 81.81% || 2 || 14
|- class="sortbottom"
! colspan=2| Career totals
! 39
! 24
! 15
! 1
! 61.54%
! colspan=2|
|}

References

Brisbane Bears players
1967 births
Living people
Collingwood Football Club players
Collingwood Football Club premiership players
East Perth Football Club players
Australian physiotherapists
Australian rules footballers from Western Australia
Western Australian State of Origin players
AFL Women's coaches
VFL/AFL premiership players