Suns off for quirky pre-season training camp

Is this the player-driven team camp that could be the making of the Gold Coast Suns?

IS this the player-driven team camp that could be the making of the Gold Coast Suns AFLW team?

On the banks of the NSW Northern Rivers town of Yamba, the newly formed Suns women’s team gathered last Friday for a long-weekend aimed at forging the bonds necessary for any premiership contender.

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Yamba, NSW. Picture: Supplied

Rivals already have relationships that have been built for three years and with the short eight round season set to start in less than three weeks, the need to find common ground for synergy on-field quickly is paramount.

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Gold Coast’s top draft pick Serene Watson said the camp, led by Leah Kaslar, Sally Riley and Lauren Ahrens, turned strangers into friends with 26 of the 30 player-squad attending.

Serene Watson. Picture: AAP IMAGE

“We had an off-season trip organised by the players just to get to know each other as we are a new club we wanted to learn to bond as a team more,” Watson said.

“It was really good. We hung around and surfed a bit. Even though the weather wasn’t too good it was lots of fun with the girls down there.

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“A lot for the teams have already bonded (for years) so we had to find our own way to do it and we didn’t want to do it through the club so we decided to it away from it.

“We became so comfortable with each other.”

Gold Coast women’s football manager Fiona McLarty was impressed by the initiative shown by the playing group, only voicing her concerns about the players cliff jumping into water.

McLarty put the onus on the players to turn up to pre-season in shape in order for the club to use the short time-frame before the season to focus on their game plan.

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