Mum, daughter's bizarre plea to Lions star Brandon Starcevich

News.com.au

14-06-2025

GWS upset the Brisbane Lions by 11 points at the Gabba on Saturday, but a bizarre sideline act pre-match from a mother-daughter duo left many footy fans stunned.
The reigning premiers were heavy favourites coming into the game and held a 16-point lead at halftime before the Giants fought back for an impressive 17.5 (107) to 13.18 (96) road win.
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Coleman Medal contender Jesse Hogan kicked six goals for the Giants, while Brisbane defender Brandon Starcevich booted a rare first-quarter goal on his return from a long stint on the sidelines due to a concussion.
Starcevich was also the subject of a wild move from an apparent family that came to the Gabba equipped with two handmade signs appealing directly to the 25-year-old premiership player.
A blonde woman held a sign that read: 'I don't want your boots, I want your last name.'
The poster included a photo of two wedding rings, a picture of the footballer and a number of love hearts.
A young girl was accompanying the woman and she had her own sign that declared: 'I need a step dad. Marry my mum.'
Her poster was complete with further messages 'this could be you' pointing to a doctored photo of the woman and Starcevich, the words 'Mr and Mrs Starcevich' and a series of hearts and flowers.
Footy games of course often feature huge numbers of fans holding signs hoping for an autograph, a selfie or perhaps some of the playing gear of their favourite player.
Marriage proposals, or appeals to become the father of a young footy fan, aren't quite so common.
The photo surfaced on X and was posted by a number of accounts, leading to a wide range of comments, many of which we can't add to this article.
There were some though that showed the widespread reaction to the bizarre move.
A parody account called Flawless Sports posted the photo with the understated caption: 'Just a bit weird innit.'
One person commented: 'Cringe, cringe, criiiiinge.'
Another said: 'Fully grown adult. Incredible.'
One fan replied: 'Getting the daughter to be part of it is even weirder.'
Another added: 'No. Not a bit weird. A LOT weird.'
Another wrote simply 'gross', one said 'embarrassing' while a number declared 'this is so weird'.
A number of fans were also keen to point out the reaction if the roles had been reversed and male footy fans made a similar act towards a female player.
X user Mick Cockering tweeted: 'Imagine if the roles were reversed and Mick held up this type of sign at an AFLW game. Exploiting your underage child so you can try and become a wag is wild.'
'A bloke does this at an AFLW game? Court next Monday mate,' wrote another.
'Imagine if a male did this to an AFLW player, there'd be an uproar,' said a third.
When one sports fan stated they were going to make a similar move with Matildas star Kyra Cooney-Cross, Flawless Sports replied: 'See you on the news mate.'
We were unable to find any context to the posters or the people involved or if they had any links to Starcevich, outside of being fans.
But it's unlikely posters of this nature would be welcome at too many footy grounds around the country.