THE AFLW world might be surprised by Gold Coast’s early season success, but not boom draftee Ava Usher.

Usher is one of a staggering seven 2025 Suns Academy graduates to play in the opening five rounds of the season, with all making an immediate impact on the club’s 3-2 start to the campaign.

Alannah Welsh won a round two Rising Star nomination for kicking five goals in a win over West Coast. Sunny Lappin was magnificent in last week’s victory against Collingwood, while Usher, Georja Davies, Mikayla Nurse and Bronte Parker have all been excellent contributors on a weekly basis.

Throw in Dekota Baron, who took a spectacular mark and kicked a goal last week against the Magpies, and Rhyce Shaw could not have asked for more from his teenage tyros.

There’s been strong contributors everywhere – second-year sensation Havana Harris, Charlie Rowbottom, big-name recruit Anne Hatchard, Niamh McLaughlin and Maddy Brancatisano among them – but it’s the impact of the youth that has been so eye-catching for the reborn Suns.

“Each week we want to come in and play our role, but we’re very encouraged to use our weapons and we don’t shy away from that,” Usher told AFL.com.au.

“The older girls and the core players really bring us along.

“We know we’re young, but we’ve got a lot of flair, so we had to come in and act like we’d been here for a while, and treat the game as a game, and not like we’re the newbies.

“We haven’t done that. We’ve come in and made an impact.”

The young stars have known each other for years, playing alongside each other at underage level for Gold Coast and Queensland and spending time together in the AFL Academy.

All they know is winning.

Usher and Lappin went right through school together, with the former being named an under-18 All-Australian as a 16-year-old before successive knee injuries all-but wiped out her past two years.

“We didn’t want to be like first-year players and act like that, we wanted to come in and be accountable and make others accountable,” she said.

“If I’m trying my hardest, why can’t other people?

“I’m a midfielder in my first year, but I’ll go up and stand on Charlie Rowbottom because that’s pushing her as well.

“Driving those standards is really important … and we’re big on that at Gold Coast and I think the young ones are the number one drivers of that.”

Sam Iles is Gold Coast’s senior assistant coach behind Rhyce Shaw and has a long association with the new crop.

He was heavily involved in the Academy for years and coached Usher, Baron and Harris at the 2023 under-18 nationals.

Iles said he wasn’t surprised by the immediate impact.

"The jump from academy to AFLW is a big leap and previously we’ve seen players come in and not be able to do it, but the unique part of this group is they’re doing it together and they’re so driven," he said.

“From the work they’re putting in, I’m not surprised the output they’re having.

“They’re the first ones here and the last ones to leave. It’s really cool to see. On down days they’re the ones that want to come in and do extra vision.

"They’re driving the girls already on the list to do the same, so they’re collectively making us a better list."

For someone that had both her bottom-age and draft years destroyed by injury, Usher’s influence through five matches has been terrific, averaging 11 disposals, three tackles and a goal a game with her blistering speed and power on full display.

She still catches herself in team reviews realising what she was doing as a 14-year-old, and who she was doing it alongside, is now happening on the biggest stage.

Shaw, who coached them all in the Academy, has played a huge role.

"People from the outside must have been curious to what the plan was having so many young girls on the list … he knew what he was doing and he knows us and how we play," Usher said.

“Connections is something that’s really hard to teach as a coach and that’s something he is big on and connection is something we already had.

“It’s hard to get a heap of new girls each year and just tell them to join and figure it out, whereas with us we came in and knew the older girls and knew each other and gelled straight away.

“It’s amazing.

“The biggest question is why can’t we play finals and why can’t we hopefully win a premiership one day?

“That’s Shawry’s biggest thing: 'Why not us?'.”