The Gold Coast SUNS will call up their sixth debutant of the AFLW season to take on Carlton this Saturday afternoon at IKON Park.
2024 Telstra AFLW Draft Pick 47 Tara Harrington will be named in Rhyce Shaw’s side for the first time on Thursday evening. The tough and classy midfielder will bolster the SUNS line-up with her competitive and combative nature.
The young SUN read aloud a heartwarming letter to her teammates on Thursday morning, written by SUNS AFLW Senior Coach posing as a SUNS fan, sharing the Broadbeach Cats junior’s persistent journey through the QAFLW ranks and into StreetSmarts SUNS Academy before finally revealing Harrington’s AFLW debut.
Elated tears and cheers filled the room as the 19-year-old read, “I’ve got one more thing to share this weekend, I - Tara Harrington - will be making my AFLW debut.”
Before the debutant could even finish, she was mobbed by enthusiastic teammates chanting her name.
“We’re thrilled to see Tara earn the opportunity to debut and we can’t wait to see her run out in the red and gold this weekend,” GC SUNS Head of Women’s Football Fiona Sessarago told SUNS Media.
“Tara has worked incredibly hard to overcome injury and return stronger than ever.
“It’s fantastic to see another member of our StreetSmarts SUNS Academy represent the Gold Coast football community on the big stage.”
Harrington was one of five StreetSmarts SUNS Academy graduates drafted in 2024 to Shaw’s side and is one of 12 StreetSmarts SUNS Academy talents on the Gold Coast’s AFLW list.
The SUNS’ final team will be named at 6:20pm Thursday.
