Gold Coast Suns eyeing coach and first player signings after officially gaining entry into 2020 AFLW

THE Gold Coast Suns could have their 2020 AFL Women’s coach and first three players locked in by February after being officially accepted as one of four new licensees.

THE Gold Coast Suns could have their 2020 AFL Women’s coach and first three players locked in by February after being officially accepted as one of four new licensees.

Having met the financial, talent development and organisational requirements set out in September last year, the AFL Commission will tomorrow confirm the Suns, St Kilda, Richmond and West Coast will be part of a 14-team AFLW in little more than a year.

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Gold Coast’s head of women’s football, Fiona McLarty, said the upgrade of the Suns’ provisional license would allow the club to focus on both player and staff recruitment.

From mid-January, the club will be able to pre-sign three 17-year-old players from the Suns Talent Academy program, as well as pre-list up to seven more of any age from their academy between January and August.

Gold Coast’s Paige Parker is tackled during the AFLW Winter Series match against the Brisbane Lions at Metricon Stadium in July 14. Picture: Chris Hyde/Getty Images

“We really are at the start of a big build. Setting up our off-field team, including a head coach, will all be done in the first couple of months of 2019,” McLarty said.

“But better still, we’ll also be able to sign some players early in the new year. We’ll actually be able to say who our first players playing in 2020 are going to be which is really exciting.”

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The Suns got their first taste of senior female football in this year’s Women’s Winter Series and they will again take part in the 2019 edition before building the list for their inaugural AFLW campaign.

Many of the club’s potential recruits are already hard at work in a women’s Summer Academy, created to give the prospective AFLW players a pre-season training program.

“The girls have been amazing the way they’ve been going around the work (and) the intensity that they’ve showed,” McLarty said.

Gold Coast Suns head of women’s football Fiona McLarty. Picture: Tim Marsden

“We’ve also been able to build our relationships with two of our local Gold Coast clubs that play in the QAFLW, so both Coolangatta and Bond Uni have coaches that are supporting us with that program. It’s a great opportunity for the girls, but also for the coaches to be involved as well.”

AFL head of women’s football Nicole Livingstone said acceptance of the four new clubs in the 2020 AFLW was “another significant step forward”.

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“Not only is this further opportunity for the next generation of talented women to play elite Australian football, but also one for fans of the game as we welcome more AFLW teams wearing iconic club colours,” she said.

“I thank the AFL Commission for their vision for women’s football and for assisting women across the country with increased opportunity to turn their passion into talent, providing the solid foundations the women’s competition needs for the journey we are on.”