Lowther on the feeling post-game

"I'm immensely proud of the girls and the way they travelled, prepared, a great month of footy – probably five weeks, to be fair, of a Geelong brand of footy.

"They’re disappointed, we’re all disappointed, but it’s good to see the girls are now looking forward to just putting it behind us and moving into a pre-preseason again knowing that we’re challenging the teams above us, which is what we’re after."

Lowther on how the team played

"The first quarter was a bit un-Geelong-like in regards to our fast starts of the past, but I think we’ve come a long way in understanding the ebbs and flows of games.

"You’re going to be in front, you’re going to be behind, you might get things go your way, things don’t go your way, it was really good for our girls after quarter-time to be stronger in contests, get the ball forward.

"I thought our deeper entries allowed us to score more often than not, which was really pleasing. (We had a) dynamic front half, but full credit to Brisbane, their midfield were hot from the start, fast, strong, outside runners as we all knew were going to challenge. To be able to fight back and wrest the game back into our hands was really pleasing."

Lowther on where the challenges lay

"I thought we chose to go shallow instead of deep a few times in our front half. When we went deep, we put them under some severe pressure and scored more often than not. So some decisions around our front half probably let us down as well in the end, (not) Making the most of those limited opportunities we got because Brisbane were so good at taking them away.

"I thought Jackie Parry was outstanding up front today. Chloe Scheer came in and did what she needed to do, showed everyone she wasn’t as injured as everyone thought, and showed really good resilience from her. We had our moments, we just didn’t take them."

Lowther on the path the team is on

"It's getting clearer. Our strategy over the past two or three seasons was to get to this point, so it’s working. Scoring, stopping opposition from scoring as well. So the bookends are going really well.

"Aishling Moloney has come in and made a huge difference to our front half, among others, but just having enough depth to go through the midfield, outside run. I’m not faulting our girls at all, they’ve been super. It’s just about building that space to support them. We’re on the right track."

Lowther on Renee Garing's retirement

"(She is the) ultimate professional. It was really sad to see her go off the way she did, because I think she’s only getting better, the more she plays, and she would say the same thing.

"Her legacy, again, is something that she sets the standard, and she’s left the standard for the rest of the players to look up to. She’ll be around no doubt, but again tonight, she was outstanding with her tackle pressure.

"That’s what we need, that’s what the competition needs, is players to play their role and she’s just an ultimate role-player."

Lowther on the support of Cats fans

"Unreal. Thrilled, absolutely thrilled. Last week at Ikon Park was outstanding, we had six-and-a-half thousand at GMHBA Stadium a couple of weeks ago.

"We’re so lucky – 10,000 would be good at our next home game, but the fan base is progressing, which is what we’ve after off the back of good footy from the girls. Exciting footy, it’s good to watch, so thanks Cats fans for getting out. I thought it was outstanding."