The Suns have announced a new-look leadership group ahead of the AFLW season next month, with Hannah Dunn announced as the new sole captain.
Dunn, who co-captained alongside Sam Virgo in 2021, has played 15 games for the club since joining in 2020. The 30-year-old will be joined by Bess Keaney in the vice-captain position after a stellar first season at the Suns.
โIt is an absolute privilege to be voted in as a captain again for next season and I will not take this responsibility lightly,โ Dunn said in a club statement.
โWeโve 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.
โLast season didnโt 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.โ
Introducing our 2022 AFLW Captain, Hannah Dunn, and Vice-Captain, Bess Keaney ๐
โก๏ธ https://t.co/7UGeY5MEyZ pic.twitter.com/3z2VPD7yN8
— Gold Coast Suns (@GoldCoastSUNS) December 5, 2021
Jamie Stanton and Serene Watson form the rest of the four-woman leadership group, with the two foundation players earning the praise of Suns head coach Cameron Joyce.
โHannah 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,โ Joyce said.
โWeโve been really impressed by Bessโs leadership going into just her second season; she is a strong voice amongst the group and extremely highly respected by players and staff so weโre thrilled she will be our vice-captain.
โBoth Jamie and Serene are two of our most vocal leaders on the playing field and have so much to offer our group so weโre really pleased to have them in our leadership group.
โOverall 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.โ
Gold Coast's season gets underway on January 9, with the Suns taking on the Giants at Great Barrier Reef Arena.