Female talent on the Gold Coast has shown promising signs over the weekend with rookies and academy prospects putting in strong performances across the board.

A number of girls selected from the Gold Coast Talent Identification Day participated in their second training session as they continue their skill development.  

SUNS Female Academy Coach Michael Gugliotta said numbers have been strong across testing days.  

“It’s been fantastic, we had a really good show for the Gold Coast Talent ID day and from that we had a group that progressed to our rookie training sessions,” Gugliotta told SUNS TV. 

“The first week was fantastic they came down (and) really grasped all our skill acquisition that we’re doing.

“Second week we’re just building on that, (having) more girls rocking up (and) adding those to the group that we identify over the next few weeks leading into May which is our Winter series.” 

Meanwhile, the SUNS Female Academy team took on the Brisbane Lions Academy and whilst the scoreboard did not necessarily reflect the girls’ effort, a couple of young SUNS were able to shine during the loss.

“We’ve got some young girls, 15-year-olds actually, who really stood up and showed us that they can perform at a game,” Gugliotta said

“Our girls are really grasping the concept of how the Academy likes to play their football and then building on that week on week on week.”

Gugliotta will head north on Saturday for the final round of AFLW Talent ID testing in Cairns, and then spend the next couple of months monitoring club AFL players in preparation for the Winter Series.