WITH pick 'X', the Gold Coast Suns have matched…

The Suns participated in a bidding frenzy during the 2025 Telstra AFLW Draft, landing a total of eight players by matching a host of bids on their star young talent. 

For those who haven't tracked the draft pool closely this year, it would no doubt have come as a rude shock. After all, the Suns did land six of the first 15 players. 

Firstly, the Suns matched a bid on Sunny Lappin, the daughter of ex-Blue and Saints player Matthew.

Lappin was eligible to join both Carlton and St Kilda given her father-daughter ties, but opted to nominate the Suns as that's where she thinks she'll play her best footy. That's a fair tick to what the Suns are building under coach Rhyce Shaw and new head of footy Erin Phillips. 

Unlike the men's draft, where each pick has an attached value, in the women's draft, a club can match a bid on a father-daughter or Academy player with a pick within the next 18. So a bid for Lappin came at No.4 and the Suns matched with No.19.

Following Lappin, the Suns matched Collingwood's bid on Ava Usher at pick No.7 and Essendon's bid on Georja Davies at pick No.9.

Usher is a resilient youngster who has had to overcome her fair share of injury struggles, but possesses explosive power and an elite kick. Some club scouts believe she could've played AFLW when she was 16.

Davies, the youngest of four sisters to land in the AFLW, is an athletic utility who can be deployed across all three lines. Davies has strong aerial ability and good skills and is clean with ball in hand. 

The Western Bulldogs put in bids for Alannah Welsh and Mikayla Nurse at picks 12 and 13, respectively, which the Suns again matched.

Welsh is a powerful forward who has strong forward craft, while Nurse is a great endurance athlete who can break the lines with her run and carry. 

At pick No.15, the Suns then matched on key forward Dekota Baron, a strong contested mark who thrives on the big stage.

Tough midfielder Bronte Parker was selected with pick No.32 as the Suns' seventh Academy draftee, while Rhiannon Ingram capped off an outstanding night as the eighth selection. 

Eight Academy selections is an almighty haul, but it was the product of years of hard work and astute trading to put themselves in the position. The likes of Rhyce Shaw, who was heavily involved in the Academy before getting the senior coaching role, and assistant Sam Isles, proved pivotal in attracting and retaining these players in the sport. 

The Suns also lost plenty of experience this year as they accrued the assets to nab their star cohort of Academy guns. 

That involved trading out of the No.1 pick, which Richmond ultimately received, for a host of later selections. 

Veteran key forward Jac Dupuy was offloaded to Hawthorn, while injury-plagued midfielder Claudia Whitfort and ruck Lauren Bella made their way to Ikon Park to join the Blues.

In 2025, Gold Coast had the youngest list in the competition. They're only getting younger in 2026. 

It's highly unlikely that the eight Academy draftees will immediately change the Suns' fortunes next year. Sure, the likes of Zippy Fish, Sophie McKay and Poppy Scholz made an immediate impact in their first seasons, but it's not often that draftees immediately slot in and hit the ground running. 

But make no mistake, the Suns are building a dynasty here.