Sixteen Gold Coast SUNS girls have been selected to represent Queensland as part of the 2022 Under 18 State Team at the upcoming NAB AFLW National Championships.

Off the back of a 7.10-52 to 1.6-12 victory by the SUNS U18 team over rivals Brisbane Lions on the weekend a squad of 28 girls has been named.

Gold Coast SUNS Female Talent Academy Head Coach, Sam Iles, leads the coaching team supported by Brisbane Lions Academy coaching staff member Scott Cowley as Senior Assistant Coach.

“It’s fantastic recognition for the girls and their families for the hard work, commitment and dedication they have put into developing their games in recent years,” Iles said.

“As a football club, we’re really pleased with the steps our Female Talent Pathway has taken since its establishment in 2017 and we look forward to continuing to grow and developing it in the coming years.

“To be able to provide junior female talent, with a pathway to becoming the best possible players they can be and hopefully providing them everything they need to reach the NAB AFLW competition has to be one of our key aims as an Academy.”

The 2022 NAB AFLW National Championships will begin this Sunday, March 20 and run throughout April. The Championships will involve under 18 representative teams from Queensland, Victoria Metro, Victoria Country, New South Wales/ACT*, South Australia, Western Australia and the Allies (combined Northern Territory/Tasmania team) playing three matches each at venues across the country.

The reshaped program structure ensures that the future stars of the women’s game across the country will be given the opportunity to play at the highest standard of underage representative football this year as part of their elite development, while ensuring the NAB AFLW National Championships can proceed in the safest possible way.

Queensland Talent Manager, Mark Browning, said it was a promising squad who’ll fly the Queensland flag.

“I’m really excited about it – it’s a good mix of ages, there’s some good under 16 coming through, there’s good representation from North Queensland, Capricornia and the Darling Downs and overall there’s some real high-end talent,” he said.

Courtney Brown, Christine Watson and Phoebe Baird round out a triple treat from the Darling Downs, while further north Alana Gee (Mackay), Kaylee Kimber (Moranbah), Ella Collega (Yeppoon) represent the Mackay/Capricornia region.

From Cairns – dynamic duo, the Cockatoo-Motlap twins have been named, while from Southeast Queensland, Fleur Davies, Ava Seton, Caitlin Thorne and Ella Smith are names to watch out for.

“It shows all of the regions play a part in our state team,” said Browning.

“One of the biggest positives is with the possibility of the AFLW season coming forwards, these National Championships are even more important for the girls. And the reality is, in a few months some of these girls could be playing AFLW.”

Queensland will get their campaign underway on Tuesday, 19th April taking on Victoria Metro at Metricon Stadium, before backing up on Friday 22nd in Melbourne against Victoria Country.

They’ll meet the Allies (Northern Territory/Tasmania/New South Wales/ACT)* back home in Queensland on Saturday 30th April as the final game of the 2022 Championships.

The Queensland squad will play a practise match against the Maroochydore QAFLW side this Saturday, 19th March.

2022 Queensland Under 18 State Team

2022 NAB AFLW National Championships