Rookie Serene Watson confident a close team bond will help deliver instant AFLW success for Suns

An off-season spent forging an unbreakable team bond has AFL Women’s rookie Serene Watson confident Gold Coast can make an immediate impact in their inaugural season.

AN off-season spent forging an unbreakable team bond has AFL Women’s rookie Serene Watson confident Gold Coast can make an immediate impact in their inaugural season.

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Watson became the Suns’ first ever AFLW draft selection when she was taken with pick 18 in October, with the Broadbeach Cats junior now preparing for the club’s maiden fixture against GWS on February 8.

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The 18-year-old got her first taste of the big time when she featured for the Suns in the Queensland Women’s Winter Series midway through last year, with those fixtures and the ensuing months helping Watson and her teammates build a strong rapport.

It is that connection the Sydney-born starlet believes will hold them in good stead throughout the eight-round AFLW season.

Gold Coast Suns AFLW player Serene Watson. Picture: Jerad Williams

“I’m pretty excited for how we’re going to go, we’ve done a lot of team bonding stuff. It’s exciting to have our first national women’s team on the Gold Coast,” Watson, who moved to the Coast at the age of eight, said.

“(The Winter Series) was really good. It was such a good experience. There were lots of older girls with lots of experience to lean on.

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“It was a great opportunity – I got to play at Metricon, got to play in Mackay and it was an unreal. There was a few girls in the Winter Series who have AFLW experience so it was really good leaning on them and trying to get a lot of feedback from them.

“I have (watched the AFLW closely). It will be pretty daunting finally going up against all those players but also exciting at the same time.”

Watson at Suns training last month. Picture: Chris Hyde/AFL Photos/Getty Images

A self-described “backliner”, Watson has been training in the midfield but said she would be happy to play anywhere coach David Lake asked her.

“It’s just a trial year (for me). Hopefully (I can) debut, but if not just see how we’ll the team goes,” she said.

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“It’s pretty exciting. I went through the whole Suns academy with all the junior clubs and then finally got my chance at AFL Women’s, cracked into pre-season and am just super excited for the 8th of February.”