Hannah Dunn has been appointed as sole captain of the Gold Coast SUNS AFLW team for the 2022 NAB AFLW Premiership Season alongside a new-look leadership group.
Second-year player Bess Keaney has been named vice-captain after an outstanding debut season for the SUNS in 2021 which saw her win the Most Professional award at the AFLW Club Champion.
Supporting Dunn and Keaney will be Jamie Stanton and Serene Watson, with the quartet forming the club’s leadership group for next season.
Both Stanton and Watson are foundation players for the SUNS, with Stanton being the club’s first expansion signing and Watson the first SUNS AFLW draftee in 2019.
It will be the first time Dunn has captained the team solo after sharing the co-captaincy with Sam Virgo in 2021, and the 30-year-old said she was honoured to once again lead the club.
“It is an absolute privilege to be voted in as a captain again for next season and I will not take this responsibility lightly,” Dunn said.
“We’ve become really united as a playing group through this pre-season and have been chasing collective improvement to achieve success as a group next year.
“Last season didn’t go the way we wanted it to, so our goal is to earn back respect amongst the competition and play a consistent brand of football our members and supporters can be proud of.”
SUNS AFLW Head Coach Cameron Joyce said he had full confidence the four-person leadership group would serve the club well next season.
“Hannah has been an outstanding leader for a number of years and is able to connect so well with our entire playing group so she was absolutely the right candidate for the job,” Joyce said.
“We’ve been really impressed by Bess’s leadership going into just her second season; she is a strong voice amongst the group and extremely highly respected by players and staff so we’re thrilled she will be our vice-captain.
“Both Jamie and Serene are two of our most vocal leaders on the playing field and have so much to offer our group so we’re really pleased to have them in our leadership group.
“Overall we think these four leaders can have a major impact on our entire playing group and we would like to congratulate them on their appointments for this season.”
Stanton has been in the club’s leadership group since its inaugural year in the competition, while this season will be the first for Keaney and Watson in a leadership position.
The Gold Coast SUNS will begin its 2022 AFLW campaign in Mackay for Round 1 on Sunday January 9 against the GWS Giants. Click here to see the 2022 NAB AFLW Fixture.
