The Gold Coast SUNS are pleased to announce Rhyce Shaw has been appointed as the club’s AFLW Head Coach on a four-year deal.
Shaw has been employed at the SUNS since 2021, working as Head of Development in the AFL program before most recently holding the role of Director of Coaching within the StreetSmarts SUNS Academy, which he will continue to fulfil.
His extensive coaching background also includes stints as an assistant coach in the AFL with Sydney and North Melbourne, before being appointed as the Kangaroos’ Senior Coach in late 2019.
Shaw said he was thrilled to be returning to the coaching ranks.
“I feel honoured to be given the opportunity to coach this team and I’m excited by how far I believe we can develop and what we can achieve for the Gold Coast,” Shaw said.
“I’m a coach at heart and I am very passionate about this football club and making our people and players better.
“The players who have been here for a while are all looking to take that next step and we’ve recently brought in some high quality talent through our Academy to help us on our journey.
“There is no ceiling on what we can achieve, we will have expectation but I’m looking forward to that challenge and so should all our fans.”
Gold Coast SUNS Chief Executive Officer Mark Evans said Shaw would bring extensive coaching and development experience to the role.
“Rhyce was the standout candidate in our search for a new AFLW Head Coach,” Evans said.
“Through his time at the Gold Coast SUNS, Rhyce has worked closely with a number of our AFLW players and dedicated countless hours to developing the next generation of players coming through.
“We are firm in our ambition to win AFLW Premierships and are confident Rhyce is the coach who can help us take the next steps to deliver on our mission as a football club.”
Shaw will begin as AFLW Head Coach in May, with the AFLW pre-season starting on May 19 and the 2025 NAB AFLW Season to kick off in mid-August.
