Former Horsham Saint Rene Caris will continue her AFLW career after re-signing with the Geelong Cats for the 2020 season.
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The 20-year-old impressed in her debut season wearing Geelong's prestigious blue-and-white hoops.
Caris said she was excited to continue with her new club.
"It's great; it's obviously been a very exciting few weeks since I found out," she said.
Caris played two games for the AFLW side last season, where she was predominantly used in the ruck.
"I loved it. It was very short and intense, but I was around a great group of girls and the coaches there were so good to me, I learned so much in such a short period of time," Caris said.
"I was a bit shocked about some of the intensity and how competitive everything was.
"I think that was just coming from the under-18 group to playing against women, which I hadn't really done before.
"I was really happy playing the two games, especially as a first-year player and being in the ruck when I'm not as solid as some of the older players around."
All 311 AFLW players were out of contract heading into this year's trade period, with an expanded 14-team competition planned for 2020.
Caris will now play for Geelong's VFL Women's side when the competition starts on May 12.
"This VFL season will be really good and hopefully I'm playing in the majority of the games," she said.
"It will really give me a chance to work on my skills and improve my strength, which is obviously a big component of my position.
"Also, I want to get a better sense of my game and get some more football under my belt. Coming from netball, I haven't played too much footy, so that's a big focus going into this season.
"It's almost like it starts now and I've got all these things to work on heading into the fourth season of the AFLW, which is just crazy."
Geelong starts the VFL season against Melbourne Uni on May 12 at Melbourne University Main Oval.
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