COMING down from Queensland, there was once again a Lappin running around at the old Carlton ground last Thursday.

After heading to the Gabba on preliminary final weekend with the rest of the Lappin family as well as the Fevolas, Sunny took part in the 2023 Carlton Academy Day last week.

As the potential future Blue was put through her paces at the home of women’s football, Matthew also took the opportunity to reminisce with former teammates such as Brad Pearce (daughter Phoebe) and Peter Dean (son Harry) joining Sunny on the ground.

Sunny’s day couldn’t have started on a brighter note, with her old man’s highlights playing on the screen at IKON Park’s Gate 6 upon arrival.

“It was pretty funny to see him up on the screen, it was completely coincidental! It was pretty cool,” Sunny said.

“He doesn’t talk about! There’s no photos, we’ve got awesome paintings but none of them are up on the wall. He’s too humble.”

The quip comes from Dad not long after — “we’ve moved on”.

However, he does say that the day was a source of pride for not only him, but also his family. 

While saying “there’s a bit of water to go under the bridge” for Sunny to follow in Dad’s footsteps, he’s still making sure the apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree.

“I definitely am not pro-Essendon, but I’m not going to hate on them or anything” is the call from Sunny when asked about Matthew’s exploits against the arch rival.

Dad’s response: “I still hate them. It runs deep!”

For the former Carlton favourite, the opportunity for the Blues to take himself, his family and hundreds of thousands of supporters on a “great ride” in the last few months was a sight for sore eyes.

And it’s no surprise that there are two particular players with a link to ‘Skinny’ that the Lappin household keeps a close eye on.

“I had a chat with Jess Good before. She was like ‘we have to see, if you get here, I might have to give you my jumper number’! We’ll see,” Sunny said.

“We’re big 'TDK' fans as well,” Matthew added.