Metricon stadium debut for women’s team

The future of Queensland women’s football will be on display at Metricon Stadium on Saturday night, as the girls make their stadium debut.

While the Gold Coast SUNS and Brisbane Lions already have an established QClash rivalry in the AFL, Saturday will be the first time a fully-fledged senior women’s SUNS outfit takes on the established Lions.

“It’s really exciting going into round 3, we’ve had a couple of good hit-outs already and coming up against the (other) Queenslanders in Brisbane (Lions), I think we’re pretty pumped and we’ll put a good side on the park,” Winter Series squad member Sange Carter said.

“We’ve got a few girls that have done a bit of work with the Lions and played there and trained with them so I think you have that natural pride of state.

“You always want to take it to the best and I think we can have a bit of a crack, there will be a bit of heat out there on the field for sure.”

Both sides will be missing their best Under 18 talent who came together to represent Queensland at the National Championships on the Gold Coast this week. 

Being one of the older players in the side, Carter says she’s been impressed by the skill and raw talent these Under 18 players have displayed.

“I actually went and watched the girls this morning play against Vic Metro and it’s great to see nearly a third of our squad out there playing juniors,” Carter said.

“It’s great to see them at 17, 18 years old running around and it’s going to be a pretty scary prospect in the next five or six years seeing how they develop.

“It’s been a really exciting part of the whole Winter Series program.”

With both Brisbane Lions and Gold Coast SUNS members (full members and women’s members) receiving free access to the double header, there will surely be plenty of support for both sides.

“We had a great crowd down at Southport a couple of weeks ago, over a thousand people down there watching,” Carter said. 

“I think everyone that loves women’s footy will be down here cheering on the Gold Coast women and then obviously can stay on for the curtain raiser and the men’s match against Essendon afterwards.

“We just want everyone coming down and supporting the girls for the last match of the Winter Series.”