AFLW: Alison Drennan discusses her trade to the Gold Coast Suns
As Saint turned Sun Alison Drennan nervously waited for confirmation of a successful trade, she decided to do the only thing possible to take her mind off the stress.
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AS Saint turned Sun Alison Drennan nervously waited for confirmation of a successful trade, she decided to do the only thing possible to take her mind off the stress.
Turn her phone on airplane mode and go for her daily, state-sanctioned hour-long run around Melbourne.
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And in the dying stages of the 2020 AFLW trade period, unbeknown to the 29-year-old, her wish came true and she was traded to the Suns in exchange for pick 24.
“I was waiting for all the paperwork to go through and I was glued to my desk so I decided to chuck my phone on airplane mode and go for a run but I came back to around 20 messages which I’ll deal with later,” she said.
“The trade has been in motion for about a week and it was starting to get to crunch time and I was getting nervous the two clubs weren’t going to come with something that would work for both.
“I started getting really stressed because once I decided I wanted to go to the Gold Coast, that was it.
“I wasn’t thinking about it (a trade) at first when everything happened with COVID but when trade period came up, I was aware I could trade to the Suns so I started working on it.”
Although the trade itself was rushed, Drennan’s move to the Gold Coast has actually been two years in the making.
In 2018, Drennan and her husband Jason along with family flew to the Gold Coast for the Commonwealth Games where Metricon Stadium, as well as the Coast’s relaxed lifestyle, made a big impression.
“My husband and I looked at each other and just said ‘we’re living here one day,’” she said.
“He’s from California and it reminds us both of his home.
“I spoke to Lakey (Suns coach David Lake) as well and he was an absolute champion.
“He’s a huge people person and was telling me stories about his family straight off the bat and was such a genuine guy.”
A former college basketballer and Kettlebell champion, Drennan played five games for the Saints in 2020 and seven games for the Kangaroos in 2019.
And while her focus remained on her own club, Drennan couldn’t ignore the talk out of Queensland.
“As a new club, no one expects you to keep winning games and each week they were turning heads and causing upsets so I started watching their games during the week and loved the way they play with their tackle intensity and heart,” she said.
“My goal is to see how good a player I can because I haven’t grown up with football so my improvement each season has been massive but now I want to push myself even more.”
A personal trainer by trade, Drennan hopes to move to the Gold Coast from Melbourne as soon as possible to kickstart her new career and escape Melbourne’s lockdown.
The Suns secured Drennan with pick 24 which they secured in a trade with the Brisbane Lions where they gave up pick 37 and 51.
The Suns also traded inaugural Suns Charlotte Hammans to Carlton in exchange for pick 56.