It’s been a whirlwind week for the latest Gold Coast debutant Jacob Dawson.

The 18-year-old rookie was told the good news this time last week, and says it was extra special after dedicating a third of his life to the SUNS Academy.

“Obviously I’ve been in the Academy since I was about 13 and once you get further and further up the ranks your dream becomes more close,” Dawson told SUNS TV. 

“Once you get to that 16th, 17th, 18th year and you put more time here into the club, (I knew) SUNS is where I want to be and I couldn’t see myself being anywhere other than the SUNS.”

Dawson, who was a mad Geelong fan growing up, says once he joined the SUNS Academy he only had eyes on playing for Gold Coast.

The dream was just one step closer when he was picked up in the 2018 Rookie Draft.

“I was lucky enough to get the chance to come here so to debut for a team you’ve dreamed of playing for, it’s pretty special,” he said.

“Not many footy people around Australia get the same chance so it’s unreal and words really can’t describe it.”

Dawson was a regular in the SUNS’ NEAFL team in 2017 and the first half of this season, where he impressed NEAFL coach Nick Malceski enough to poll 18 votes in the NEAFL MVP across nine matches.

“At the start of the year I wasn’t playing the best footy, I was more playing a role in the team,” Dawson said. 

“Through the weeks I started to find a bit more of the ball and started to be a bit more of an influence on the games. 

“Then I started thinking, ‘I’m not just here to fill up a number, I’m not just here to be a first-year player, I want to play some AFL footy’.

“The past few weeks I’ve really been nailing down with the coaches what I need to do and I was lucky enough that Stuey gave me the chance so yeah that was unreal.”