AFLW: Gold Coast Suns co-captain Hannah Dunn on her move to the big league
Some kids grow up idolising the stars on their TV screens, not Hannah Dunn. Here is how the Suns’ skipper went from country ACT to the Gold Coast pioneering women’s sport.
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A quiet five-acre property in the small country town of Wamboin, ACT is a far cry from the hustle and bustle of the Gold Coast.
So too is captaining the Queanbeyan Tigers compared to skippering the Suns AFLW side.
For Hannah Dunn, it has been these changes which have helped transform her into a pioneer of women’s sport in the ACT and across Australia’s east coast.
Dunn never thought she would be in this position.
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While some kids grow up with their eyes glued to TV screens, watching their sporting idols kick a goal, throw a pass or bowl a ball, Dunn doesn’t recall watching much sport – if any – as a kid on her family’s property in Wamboin, 20 minutes from the Canberra CBD.
It’s because the Dunn family preferred to be outdoors. Going camping, hiking or bike riding on a weekend.
“Growing up, we never watched sport,” Dunn recalled.
“We watched maybe the news every now and then.
“Every weekend we were either away camping or bush walking.
“My parents met in an outdoors club so we were always destined to be outdoors.
“I played netball a little bit in primary school but I wasn’t really into footy.”
Now, for four months of the year at least, Dunn’s weekends are taken up by nothing but footy.
QUEEN OF QUEANBEYAN
It started out as a bit of a favour.
After graduating from school, Dunn got a job working at Parliament House in Canberra, admitting it sounds fancier than it actually was.
“Before playing in the AFLW, I was working at Parliament House in the Department of Senate,” she said.
“It sounds fancy but I was an admin officer.
“When I left, I was in the economics committee but I did stints in the NDIS committee and a few others as well.”
It paid well enough but it was another new-found passion which was set to take her further from home.
At age 19 in 2010, Dunn received a message from her old netball coach asking whether she would like to join a new women’s footy team that was starting up in Queanbeyan.
“Once I left school in Year 12, my old netball coach messaged me to say they were starting up a women’s (footy) team in Queanbeyan.
“I thought to go down and give it a try because Queanbeyan was closer to me living in Wamboin.
“I went down and tried and it kind of went from there.”
Dunn became captain of the Queanbeyan Tigers at 21 and became the first female to play 100 games for the club, which included playing in four premierships and taking out the 2011 Jill Bright Medal (for best and fairest).
Such was her influence, and rather to her embarrassment according to a 2017 post by the club, the Tigers launched the Hannah Dunn Academy to help develop women’s football in the region.
But it wasn’t for another decade before Dunn would stamp her authority on the national stage.
GOLD COAST BOUND
Once the AFLW was introduced in 2017, Dunn set her sights on the national women’s competition.
She first started training with the Giants for a couple of years, but was often overlooked for a spot on a list.
And not knowing any better, Dunn thought the Giants were her only option.
“I didn’t know how to put myself out there,” she said.
“Back then, I thought they’d just approach you if you were good enough but now I’ve realised you have to put in some work and have to put together a little resume and footage.
“Being in Canberra, there wasn’t many filmed games or any stats so it was quite hard to get noticed.
“It was actually Alan McConnell from the Giants who helped.
“I asked him what I needed to do and he told me to move to a better place in a better team in a better competition.
“My partner and I then just packed up and moved to Adelaide for six months where I did quite well.
“I was then picked up by the Crows and now I’m at the Gold Coast.”
DUNN’S SUNS
It’s been a whirlwind since Dunn was drafted to the Suns with pick number 22 in 2019.
Away from the footy oval, one of Dunn’s goals was to marry her partner Hayden in October 2020 before the Covid-19 pandemic forced it to be postponed to November 2021.
And the ongoing border closures and Covid restrictions has seen the much-anticipated date moved – yet again – to June 2022.
“I just want the wedding to happen,” she said.
“Once it gets a bit closer, I’ll definitely get more excited.”
Had her wedding gone ahead in 2021, it would have capped off an incredible year for the hardworking midfielder.
In a remarkable rise to the top, Dunn was handed the co-captaincy badge alongside AFLW veteran Sam Virgo for the Suns’ 2021 season.
But it wasn’t without its emotional ups and downs with Dunn admitting the toll the 2021 season took on her.
“It was good and an experience in itself,” she said.
“Obviously it was quite a tough year as my first time as skipper.
“I was skipper at Queanbeyan but it was nothing like captaining an AFLW team. The responsibilities are a lot higher and the emotional and mental load you take on is a bit more extreme.
“After how the team went last year, that took a pretty big toll on me.
“I probably tried to take on more than I was capable of.
“I learnt a lot from last year and learnt that when I’m playing my best footy, I’m being the best leader I can be.
“This year, I’m going to work on last year and spend more time on myself.
“I want to make sure I’ve got everything in my court going right so that I would perform well.”
ONE STEP AT A TIME
After finishing the 2021 season on the bottom of the AFLW ladder, Gold Coast’s new head coach Cameron Joyce is taking a one-win-at-a-time approach.
And the girl from Wamboin, with four AFL Canberra premiership performances and the Suns captaincy now beside her name, is all for taking small steps towards success.
“You’ve got to aim high right?” Dunn said when asked whether the goal was to win a premiership this season.
“Joyce has come in and said it’s all well and good to want to win a premiership but how are we going to get there.
“We’ve broken it down to a few steps on how we’re going to get there together.
“Obviously we have to win games before that.
“If we win the flag, it would be great but our aim this year is to make finals.”
Better late than never: SA veteran jumps at AFLW chance
Leah Cutting has swapped her police uniform for a football guernsey as she chases her AFLW dream.
Cutting took six months unpaid leave from the South Australian police force to join St Kilda as a free agent ahead of the upcoming AFLW season.
While the 29-year-old knew her decision to relocate to Melbourne and trade the police force navy blue for the Saints red, white and black would have financial consequences, the alternative would have had a significant emotional cost.
After years of striving for an opportunity at the highest level, this was Cutting’s one shot to fulfil her AFLW dream.
Until this year’s draft, Cutting feared she was too old, too late to the game and did not fit the guidelines of recruiters.
With competitive swimming her main focus, Cutting didn’t pick up a football until she was 23 when a friend convinced her to head to her local club, Morphettville Park, for a kick.
After joining Norwood in the SANFLW and training with Adelaide’s development squad, the 185cm ruck was determined to refine her craft and push for a spot on a list.
But as five years passed, she started to question whether she had the ability to take her game to the next level.
“The last two seasons prior to this one, I did kind of give up on that dream,” Cutting said.
“I just thought it wasn’t my time, I thought I was too old.
“I knew I had a lot of improvement to go still but I thought that clubs were just more interested in talent pathways.”
The Saints were impressed with Cutting’s 54-games at state level, which included a premiership, SANFLW team of the year selection and co-captaincy honours.
Needing to find support in the ruck for Rhiannon Watt, the Saints reached out Cutting to express their interest in drafting the mature-age recruit.
Cutting was in disbelief that her AFLW dream was finally coming to fruition.
“Hearing the Saints, at the beginning of the AFLW season, were interested in drafting me for this year was unbelievable. I couldn’t believe it,” Cutting said.
“Getting that first initial phone call, I think afterwards I pretty much cried. I couldn’t believe it. I just sat there in silence for a little bit.”
While her name wasn’t called out on draft night, Cutting was elated when she received the call from St Kilda confirming that she would be joining them at Moorabbin for the 2022 season.
“We had this master plan so they would draft me as a free agent so my name wouldn’t officially be called out in the draft but they would pick up through the free agency period,” Cutting said.
“My name wasn’t up in headlights but to get the call two minutes after the draft was done was amazing.”
As the AFLW heads into their sixth season, many draftees now enter the AFLW having grown up playing football and refining their skills from a young age.
But for Cutting, while she grew up “Adelaide Crows obsessed”, her late start to the game contributed to her not joining the league earlier.
“Coming from a swimming background, I had never kicked a ball. I always loved the sport but I never really had anyone to kick with,” Cutting said.
“I think just learning to develop the skills, like kicking, my handballing and marking but also game sense has just taken a long time.
“So it’s taken me a few years and I’m still learning so much every day I’m at the club.”
Despite her unique pathway, Cutting’s lead by example approach and ability to clearly communicate was a reflection of her role as a police officer.
As she continues to further develop her skills, Cutting hopes to utilise her six years in the force while on the field.
“With some of the younger girls coming through, their footy knowledge is probably better than mine but in terms of leadership, I feel like I have a lot to offer the group,” Cutting said.
“I’m not afraid to use my voice and speak up when I have to. So I’m just trying to be a positive influence for others and bring out the best qualities in them.”
Cutting will head into the upcoming season with the goal of playing round one but the new Saint wants to focus on using her leadership to have a positive influence on those around her, including others striving for an AFLW opportunity.
“I think I have a lot to offer younger athletes coming through or even athletes of a similar age,” Cutting said.
“It’s not too late and if you do apply yourself, you can go to the next level.”
With six weeks of preseason completed, Cutting has settled in at Moorabbin but still can’t believe her dream is now reality.
“It still doesn’t feel real in some ways,” Cutting said.
“Like I come here and I’m walking past men who I watch on TV and it’s very surreal.”
AFLW COACH REVEALS COVID TERROR, LASTING EFFECTS
Jon Ralph
Hawthorn AFLW coach Bec Goddard says she was on the brink of being rushed to hospital with uncontrollable fevers after a bout of Covid-19 that continues to leave her without the ability to taste or smell.
Five weeks on from the height of the illness, suffered while living in Canberra, she says her double vaccinated status clearly saved her from a worse case of the debilitating illness.
Goddard told News Corp she was “privileged” to have had twin doses of a vaccine that lessened the severity of the case.
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The newly appointed Hawks AFLW coach was so fatigued and wracked by fever she was in consultation with a doctor about being admitted to hospital.
She is still without most of her sense of taste, apart from knowing foods are salty or sweet.
Goddard said on Friday she was keen to destigmatise Covid-19 for people who had done everything right, but were still guilty about getting breakthrough illnesses.
She paid tribute to Hawks midfielder Finn Maginness, who was happy to be identified as having contracted Covid given he had done nothing wrong to contract the illness.
The Hawks have several players who are close contacts quarantining but no further spread, with Maginness quarantining for 14 days.
Goddard said she and her partner still had no idea where they had contracted the virus.
“Especially in the first few days the stigma was the big thing, you didn’t want people to know it,” Goddard said.
“How did we get this? Did we stay socially distanced enough? Where did we catch it, we had to have done something wrong.
“But the reality of this is we are good people who took precautions and still got it.”
Goddard said her partner started sneezing one day and they thought it was seasonal; hay fever because they were both double-vaccinated.
“She found out the day after her test that she was Covid-positive and I was still testing negative so we separated for four days and then I tested positive when I was in isolation,” she said.
“I started coughing and then I was allowed to go back and be with her and when I got home I started to get quite sick.
“I had uncontrollable fevers for three and a half hours at a time and then would have a 30 minute break and it would come back again.
“I lost taste and smell completely. I still don’t have it back five weeks later.
“I went jaundiced, I turned yellow. The fevers went on from days four to eight and on the eighth day we had the doctor on the phone twice that day.
“I couldn’t even have a conversation with my partners. I couldn’t move from the bed to the couch and you become weak. You are not eating or drinking.
“It was terrible, absolutely terrible. But I am extremely grateful to be double vaccinated. I think it’s a privilege to have a lifesaving vaccine. We did everything right and still got quite unwell.”
Asked how close she was to being transported to hospital, Goddard said: “Honestly that last day when I had those fevers and went jaundiced, it was touch and go that day.
“Really close. But it’s also all about gratefulness and speaking in the positive mindset about things we can because of the privilege we have to be able to have access to the vaccine.”
Goddard needed another fortnight off her work with the Australian Federal Police once her fever broke and says, only now, is she regaining some sense of taste.
“I can tell if something is salty, I can tell if something is sweet, but I can’t taste the food itself,” she said.
“I am drinking black coffee, because what is the point in wasting calories or having flat whites I can’t taste it and I still can’t taste toothpaste, but I can taste banana.
“I am taking vitamin B to help with recovery and my immune system and hopefully in another couple of months I will be better.
“I got quite down about it because you don’t often think about much you like eating because you enjoy the taste.”
She says AFL and AFLW players who have signed up for vaccinations, with only a few notable exceptions, have taken a leadership role in the community that should be commended.
“I think it helps when people come out and talk about their experiences of having it,” Goddard said.
“Overseas everyone has had it and they are living their lives but here in Australia it can be the hot gossip. Who is, who have you been around?
“And the reality of it is it’s going to be the future and you can do everything right and still get it.”
Dad’s return to top will Incentivise Moody’s AFLW dominance
- Celie Hay
Breann Moody will take inspiration from her father’s return to the top of horse racing and his Caulfield Cup victory when she runs out with Carlton’s AFLW side this season.
Moody was watching from home when her dad, legendary horse trainer Peter, won the five million dollar race but returned to the track to witness the excitement around Melbourne Cup favourite, Incentivise.
As Flemington welcomed back crowds, Moody relished the opportunity to head trackside to admire her dad’s return from a four-year hiatus.
“It was pretty incredible to see him back at the top of the training ranks and getting all the attention he deserves,” Moody said.
“He has worked so hard for it, year on year, so to see him get some success was pretty special.”
Incentivise went into the race a clear favourite but was beaten by Chris Waller-trained mare, Verry Elleegant.
Although disappointed Incentivise didn’t claim the victory, Moody said she was still proud it’s endeavour.
“I’d love to say winning the cup but that obviously didn’t happen this year, but hey, coming second in the Melbourne Cup is a pretty awesome achievement,” Moody said.
“It was hard not to be a little bit disheartened. The horse was pumped up a fair bit by the media, and so he deserved to be, he is a very special horse. But coming second is still so incredible.”
Having grown up surrounded by horses and following her father’s successful career, Moody carried many lessons from her childhood into her 38-game AFLW career.
Although there are not many similarities between horse racing and football, Moody said it was her dedication to horses and other sports as a teenager that allowed her to adapt to the demands of playing football.
“Seeing Dad with the racehorses and from that sort of perspective, it shows how important routine is for not only horses and racing but how we carry that to the AFL as well,” Moody said.
“But also growing up with horses and going through pony club and doing show jumping, it’s a massive commitment so it teaches you about time management, hard work and dedication.
“It’s been pretty special to grow up in an environment with horses but also with Dad being quite successful.”
Striving for victory is in Moody’s blood, with the inaugural Blue attributing her work ethic and drive to her parents.
Her father Peter, alongside Moody’s mother Sarah, had always encouraged their children to be diligent and driven when pursuing their goals, whether that be on a horse, football field or life in general.
“They came from very little and created such a successful business for themselves,” Moody said.
“So the big one is work hard and the results will come but also don’t be afraid to try new things.”
This piece of advice has helped Moody establish herself as the league’s leading ruck.
The 24-year-old had a dominant year in 2021 and, for the first time, was named in the AFLW All Australian team.
Her selection as the best ruck in league was “very special” but Moody doesn’t want to become complacent with another family member contesting her for the position.
Moody’s twin sister Celine, an opposition ruck at the Western Bulldogs, congratulated the All Australian but was quick to reinforce the sibling rivalry.
“It was a really rewarding moment but also motivating because I want to hang onto that for the years to come,” Moody said.
“She (Celine) was pretty quick to tell me that she’s going to take it off me next year so I’m looking forward to that battle.”
Moody will be hoping to replicate her dominant form next season to help guide the Blues to a finals return after finishing seventh in 2021.
Throughout the pre-season, Moody said the Blues are focusing on playing a more consistent and cohesive style of football.
“We are our own biggest challenge. We’ve got some amazing talent in the squad, we just need to get better at putting it out on the field on game day,” Moody said.
“We’re trying some new things this pre-season so I think that will be good just to have a bit of a fresh look.
“We are focusing pretty hard on the work we are putting in now through pre-season so hopefully that work shows off throughout the coming season.”
The sixth AFLW season will start on January 6 with the fixture expected to be announced in the coming weeks.
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