Shaw Embraces New Coaching Role After Four-Year Break from Roos

Simpkin appointed as sole Roos skipper | 00:18

Rhyce Shaw is back in the coaches’ box after the Gold Coast Suns appointed the AFL premiership player to be its AFLW coach.

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The Suns on Tuesday night confirmed Shaw had signed a four-year deal to head up their AFLW team, which finished 17th in 2024 and lost their captain Tara Bohanna during December’s trade period.

Shaw replaces Cameron Joyce, who was sacked as Suns AFLW coach in December.

It means Shaw will become the first person to have been appointed to a senior coaching role at both AFL and AFLW level.

Shaw coached North Melbourne’s AFL side in 2019 and 2020. He was initially appointed caretaker coach after Brad Scott resigned and was at the helm for 29 games, but the club and Shaw reached the decision to part ways via mutual consent with one season remaining on his contract.

The 43-year-old has been at the Suns since 2021, quickly becoming a highly respected member of staff. He was the AFL program’s head of development initially before becoming the club academy’s director of coaching — a role he’ll continue to fulfil this year alongside his AFLW duties. He’s worked closely with Gold Coast players at all levels on skill acquisition.

“I feel honoured to be given the opportunity to coach this team and I’m excited by how far I believe we can develop and what we can achieve for the Gold Coast,” Shaw said.

“I’m a coach at heart and I am very passionate about this football club and making our people and players better.

“The players who have been here for a while are all looking to take that next step and we’ve recently brought in some high quality talent through our Academy to help us on our journey.

“There is no ceiling on what we can achieve, we will have expectation but I’m looking forward to that challenge and so should all our fans.”

Suns chief executive Mark Evans said Shaw “was the standout candidate” for the role.

“Through his time at the Gold Coast Suns, Rhyce has worked closely with a number of our AFLW players and dedicated countless hours to developing the next generation of players coming through,” Evans said.

“We are firm in our ambition to win AFLW Premierships and are confident Rhyce is the coach who can help us take the next steps to deliver on our mission as a football club.”

Shaw played 237 games for Collingwood and Sydney between 2000 and 2015, including playing a role in the Swans’ 2012 premiership side.