SYDNEY University kept its 2026 finals campaign alive in clinical fashion, tightening the screws on the UTS Bats for a 48-point AFL Sydney Women’s Premier Division Elimination Final win, 7.9 (51) to 0.3 (3), at Blacktown International Sportspark on Sunday.

Named best afield in that victory was top-age draft hope Evie Bowie, who finished with 24 disposals, five clearances, four inside 50s and a goal in a on-ball performance that had a hand in almost everything the Students created through the middle.

BACKGROUND

Name: Evie Bowie
Height: 170cm
DOB: 31/12/2008
Position: Midfielder/Forward
Clubs: Swans Academy / Sydney University

A top-age prospect for the 2026 AFLW Draft, Bowie has spent the year splitting her football between the Swans Academy in the Coates Talent League Girls and Sydney University in the AFL Sydney Women’s Premier Division. She has built a season of work that has shown her as a genuine balanced threat capable of both winning it in close and using it well on the outside.

Her Talent League numbers back that up. Her 2026 campaign saw the Swans Academy member finish averaging 22.5 disposals, 3.3 clearances, 4.7 tackles and 3.7 inside 50s a game. That form carried into the representative arena, where Bowie was one of the Allies’ most well-rounded performers at the AFLW Under 18 Championships, averaging 15.8 disposals, 2.8 marks and 4.0 tackles a game as the side finished runners-up, with her tackle pressure and ability to hit the scoreboard drawing praise as a genuine two-way midfielder.

At club level, Bowie has been a fixture in a Sydney University midfield that also features fellow Swans Academy member Frances Walsh and AFLW veteran Amanda Farrugia, regularly posting consistent numbers when in the side, across the home-and-away season. The pairing with Walsh in particular has been a feature of the Students’ inside-to-outside combination, with the pair returning from representative duties in the second half of the year to add extra run and class to an already strong outfit.

PLAYER FOCUS

Stats vs. UTS Bats, Elimination Final: 24 disposals (15 kicks, nine handballs), 14 contested possessions, 10 uncontested possessions, one mark, five clearances, two tackles, four inside 50s, one goal, one behind.

QUARTER ONE

Starting on-ball, it took Bowie three-and-a-half minutes to get involved, working off half-back to release a quick kick to the wing that found its target cleanly. Three minutes later she showed the burst that makes her such a difficult cover, receiving a handball in tight congestion and exploding away from the contest with quick hands to keep the chain alive.

Her third touch of the term, in the ninth minute was arguably the most instructive. Bowie won the ball at half-forward, released it with quick hands under pressure and then pushed on to apply defensive pressure of her own, the kind of two-way running that has become a trademark. She spent a stint on the bench through the middle of the quarter before returning to the midfield rotation in the late in the quarter to finish of what would actually be her quietest of the four terms.

QUARTER TWO

Bowie again started on-ball and was involved inside the opening 30 seconds, taking a bounce off a handball receive on the wing and delivering a lovely kick inside 50 that just spilled from a teammate’s hands, the quality of the delivery not in question. She could not quite hold the ball at ground level under early pressure two minutes in, before flicking out a handball at centre half-forward and applying a tackle on the wing soon after.

The best of her term came without the ball finding the scoreboard. A spinning turn and short kick out of defensive 50 in the seventh minute was slickly executed, and two minutes later she showed clean hands at half-forward to thump the ball long into a contest, only for it to be intercepted. After another rest through the middle of the quarter, Bowie returned in the 16th minute and produced the passage of the half, working smart body position one-on-one inside 50 when Farrugia’s kick sailed over the top into space.

She tried to soccer a checkside snap through to the goalsquare, but the ball rushed through for a behind. Not long after, a set shot from 40 metres on a slight angle drifted to the near right side for another behind, before she showed composure under pressure at half-back, flicking a handball over her shoulder to work the Students out of trouble.

QUARTER THREE

The premiership quarter began with a let-off, Bowie unable to hold a marking contest just inside 50 under duress, getting up a little sore for her trouble. She was back involved within two minutes, winning a clearance on the wing and swinging it onto her right to thump the ball down the line. A series of near misses followed before she won a free kick for high contact, using the resulting short kick efficiently, then came off just after the six-minute mark to be checked over.

She returned in the ninth minute with a quick snap around her body from the wing that found a contest at half-forward, then produced the moment of the term three minutes later, bursting past a teammate through the middle and thumping a kick down to a contest inside 50. Standing up in a tackle she was able to flick out handball out under pressure in the 13th minute, before her cleanest moment of the day arrived at ground level, gathering under no fuss and finding Farrugia by hand, who hit up a target inside 50.

QUARTER FOUR

Bowie started on-ball again and was involved early, gaining another handball receive quickly before swinging onto the right under pressure that put the ball across the face of goal and bounced into the behind post. However she was going to get reward for effort soon enough. Her goal came in the sixth minute, sneaking forward to win a handball receive from Swans Academy teammate Walsh before snapping truly around her body – a piece of craft she celebrated with a pointed “6-7” celebration.

She was straight back into stoppage work moments later, winning the next centre clearance and delivering a beautifully weighted kick towards Walsh that just bounced beyond her outstretched arms. Soon after, Bowie took a mark and pushed the ball inside 50 to a one-on-one contest, good bodywork from the opposition denying a second goal.

She had a rest through the middle of the term before returning in the 15th minute to flick out another handball at half-forward, and in the 17th produced a lovely pickup and sidestep to get a handball away cleanly on the wing – but copped an accidental knock to the throat in the process and did not return, finishing the final two minutes on the bench.

SUMMARY

Bowie was one of Sydney University’s best in the do-or-die elimination final win. She rotated through the midfield and was outstanding with her ground coverage, explosive burst and decision making, all of which came to the fore in the win.

The combination with Frances Walsh continues to be a point of difference for Sydney University, the pair regularly finding each other by hand and foot through the middle of the ground, while her willingness to play through knocks – twice requiring attention on Sunday – speaks to the competitive edge that has become a hallmark of her football.

With Sydney University now turning to a do-or-die semi-final against the UNSW-ES Bulldogs, Bowie’s blend of contested ball-winning, outside run and scoreboard impact will again be central to the Students’ finals push, and continues to build a compelling case for her name to be called on draft night.