POTENTIALLY boasting the most accolade-ridden top-age seasons of any two players, star midfielders Sunny Lappin and Chloe Bown are set to be taken at the pointy end of the 2025 AFL Women’s Draft. While Bown has long been associated with the top few names, Lappin’s rise from top 30 talent to top 10 star is deserved off consistent form across multiple competitions.

While bearing a lot of similarities, they also have points of difference, and this article is designed to take a deep dive into both of them and see what makes each individual stand out in their own right.

PLAYER VITALS

Sunny Lappin		Chloe Bown
Southport/Suns Academy	Club	Oakleigh Chargers
Queensland	State	Vic Metro
28/11/2007	DOB	20/12/2007
170cm	Height	173cm
Midfielder	Position	Midfielder

QUOTES

Peter Williams (Rookie Me Central Chief Editor)

2025 QAFLW Grand Final Scouting Notes

“You’d be hard pressed to find a player with a better top-age season based off expectations coming into the year than Lappin in 2025. She was always around the mark in terms of top 30 calculations, but even the past few weeks it is impossible to see her falling beyond the Top 10 with a Queensland MVP and now QAFLW Best on Ground medal. She simply did it all, working inside, outside, kicking forward and hitting the scoreboard. She was the link that moved the Southport transitional game, and on Father’s Day it was just the icing on the coach for dad and Southport senior coach, Matthew. A big decision between the Gold Coast, Carlton and St Kilda awaits for the talented midfielder.”

Mark Browning (Queensland Talent Manager)

“It didn’t matter what happened, the better Sunny played, she never got comfortable. She then trained better again the next week. It was just consistency, and we focused a bit on her defensive side of her game. Normally she would like push forward which she’s very dangerous at and good at, but she took that on board and worked very hard on the defensive side of the game, but at the same time it put her into that rebounding type role on turnover. She’s done a lot of adjustments, but she’s such a rounded player now and a dangerous player, I think she’s going to be a very good AFLW player.”

Sunny Lappin (Upon winning the Queensland MVP)

“It means a lot to me obviously. I’m very happy with my couple of games over the champs. I had a lot of fun which I think was the most important part and then I’ve just been cracking in on a lot of my stoppage and clearance work and I think I’ve shown that, and I’ve used it well. I was just lucky to get a run in the midfield and have it pay off for me.”

>> AFLW Draft Q&A: Sunny Lappin

Peter Williams (Rookie Me Central Chief Editor)

Coates Talent League Girls Quarter Finals Scouting Notes:

“A simply ridiculous game by the Vic Metro MVP who brought her own ball and was not fazed by the muddy conditions. Getting to 39 disposals with still over five minutes to play, Oakleigh opted to rest her up for the preliminary final, having been clear best afield throughout. She started on-ball, racked it up there, went forward and then booted two goals before moving back to the middle for the third term and having 16 disposals to end the quarter at 33 with 20 minutes to play. While at times she can still throw the ball on the boot, her decision making is effective and her impact is consistently at an elite level.”

Ty Vickery (Oakleigh Chargers coach in Preseason)

“She’s a terrifically skilled inside and outside midfielder, really strong overhead. We played her forward last year for patches and she consistently kicked goals. Has a really well-rounded game with skill and toughness as well. We’ll play her predominantly inside, but also give her some time forward.”

Chloe Bown (Preseason, on earning an AFLW Academy spot)

“It was funny actually. I got a call from Tarkyn (Lockyer) who’s the Academy coach and he’s been a big supporter of my footy over many years because he lives just down the road from me. He called me and told me that I made it, so it was pretty crazy. I couldn’t really believe it until I got to the camp, and the level was so high and so many talented girls.”

SIMILARITIES

• Production

• Offensive game

• Scoreboard involvement

• Consistency

• Footy IQ

• Positioning

Both players have put up very similar numbers across their various competitions, with just shy of 30 disposals per game, as well as consistent clearance and inside 50 numbers. The pair obviously won their respective MVPs for their state, with Bown pipping Lappin for the overall national championships best and fairest.

The way where they standout compared to their peers comes in their footy IQ and positioning, with the players very different in their ball-winning ways, but also drawing plenty of similarities as well. They are largely second-possession winners, with Bown more of a direct ball-winner off the ruck tap, while Lappin is that next handball option to use her speed and skill exiting a stoppage going forward.

However both are able to win the ball in the opposite manner as well, and while Bown has largely been that inside presence for sometime, Lappin’s rise from winger to onballer has helped propel her into the top handful of prospects in this year’s AFLW Draft. The way each of them can either hit the scoreboard themselves or set up others going inside 50 is outstanding, and they do a lot of indirect damage in that way.

POINTS OF DIFFERENCE

Disposal

The most fascinating comparison will come in the disposal element because both can be damaging but in very different ways. In terms of pure skill and variation with their preferred right boots, Lappin gets the nod as she is such as slick user who can weight the kicks well and hit targets particularly with any time and space. Under more pressure naturally the efficiency drops a little, but if you were backing them over short-to-medium distances, you would opt for Lappin.

However in terms of penetration, Bown is the one to go for, able to roost the ball a long way and clear the the opposition defensive zones. Furthermore, her ability to use her opposite left foot often just as well as her preferred right is a thing of beauty, and if you could not work out which was her preferred foot before she had a set shot, we would not blame you. It helps her exit a stoppage on either side, and while she can tend to bomb the ball a little just to thump it forward, the fact she can get great distance on either side is a big tick. Like Lappin, Bown can use the ball effectively with time and space.

Marking

Lappin finished the national carnival with more marks, and both can compete aerially, though Bown is the more contested player. She has the extra few centimetres and greater strength on her side which enables her to receive contact and pull in some strong grabs. Lappin has the ability to spread to space and win a lot of uncontested marks, and while Bown is also capable of that, she will usually draw a crowd wherever she goes. The Chargers talent has safe hands at the highest point.

Athleticism

Both players are athletic in their own right, with Bown’s vertical jump and power over the first few steps what really sets her apart when she plays. Lappin has that speed herself, but is more of a consistent quick rather than explosive starter, and her evasiveness is her point of difference in the head-to-head. She can turn on a dime and so it through quick feet, whereas Bown’s power and smarts allow her to wrong foot opponents and get the ball forward.

Contested work

Finishing the national carnival, Bown ran at a contested possession rate of 55.3 per cent, just ahead of Lappin at 48.5 per cent. These numbers pretty much depict their games, with the Victorian that higher contested ball-winner, who is a more predominant groundball winner (43.3 to 35.7 per cent), while Lappin is likely to be the ones teammates look to release to in space, with a high handball receive ratio (38.1 to 36.1 per cent).

As a whole there are no concerns over either player winning contested ball, they just do it in different ways, and would actually work well together in a midfield with their knack of extracting it and backing their speed, while putting pressure on the opposition defence.

Versatility

Bown has spent time forward and has the contested marking ability and one-on-one strength to compete as that rotating forward. She is a tall midfielder but slightly undersized for a tall forward, though she is more than capable of being a target inside 50. Lappin’s versatility is more that inside-outside balance, having started as a winger and moved inside when injuries struck and she has never looked back. Given her speed and smarts she can easily do either, with Lappin seeing herself as a wing at the top level, though has the ability to play as that medium forward too.

Defensive game

The pair are fierce tacklers and hard runners, with both strong in different ways. While has been the case for a lot of these differences, Lappin and Bown are capable of laying those big tackles, and also getting back into the defensive 50. The Queensland prospect seems to cover defensively a little better particularly from within the back 50 in that surge rebounding role, while Bown will usually be the outlet kick on top of the defensive 50 to take the ball down the ground due to her overhead marking ability. She is likely to be the stronger tackler however, with her bigger frame and contested experience coming to the fore.

SUMMARY

These two are absolutely brilliant players, and it is not about saying one is necessarily better, but rather where they differ and in what areas they can have the upper hand. Lappin is your skilful, smart inside-outside midfielder who is so creative and has runs on the board at senior state league level and in big games, while Bown is your contested inside ball-winner who runs hard and can go forward and be a target there too. Both will go high in the draft, offer different things to their respective clubs, though of course Lappin will end up at one of Carlton, Gold Coast or St Kilda, while Bown is available in the open draft.