Suns secure breakthrough win for new coach Rhyce Shaw
Oliver Caffrey |
A four-goal third quarter surge has set up Rhyce Shaw’s first AFLW win as Gold Coast coach, the Suns holding off GWS by 19 points.
In a battle of the winless northern teams, the Suns dominated in the middle against the depleted Giants at People First Stadium on Saturday.
GWS finished strongly, but the 33-point three-quarter-time deficit was always going to be too much to reel in as the Suns prevailed 7.10 (52) to 4.9 (33).
(AAP PHOTOS)
Both teams have been ravaged by injuries, with Suns star Charlie Rowbottom hurting her shoulder last week and now out for an extended period.
But the Suns stepped up in the middle, as co-captains Lucy Single and Niamh McLaughlin led from the front.
Gold Coast won clearances 27-10, with 18 of them coming from Single, McLaughlin, and Maddy Brancatisano.
McLaughlin was “delighted” with the performance.
“We’ve been trying to work on a new game plan,” she told Fox Footy.
“The whole team just stood up when we needed to.
“We’ve had a bit of a tough run of it over the last week with injures.
“We had a bit of a tough week this week, a lot of soul-searching for ourselves … the girls are so determined.”
Gold Coast were thumped across the first three games of the season, marking a difficult start for Shaw.
After several seasons with the Suns as a development coach, this job is his first return to senior coaching in almost five seasons.
Shaw coached North Melbourne’s men’s team for the second half of the 2019 season when Brad Scott was sacked.
He was appointed full-time coach for the 2020 campaign, but stepped away at the end of that season.
AAP
