Past #3 Dylan Stephens

[Kennedy Parker]

Dylan Stephens
The Sydney Swans used their first pick five since Jarrad McVeigh

Jarrad Mcveigh

Age

39

Ht

184cm

Wt

84kg

Pos.

Def

Career

Season

Last 5

D

19.3

5star

K

11.1

4star

HB

8.2

5star

M

4.0

4star

T

3.1

5star

MG

327.8

4star

No current season stats available

D

9.4

3star

K

6.0

3star

HB

3.4

3star

M

1.6

2star

T

1.8

4star

in 2002 to lock in a talented midfielder from South Australian club Norwood at the 2019 AFL Draft. Dylan Stephens

15

Dylan Stephens

Age

23

Ht

184cm

Wt

80kg

Pos.

Mid

Career

Season

Last 5

D

10.3

3star

K

7.0

3star

HB

3.3

3star

M

3.0

3star

T

1.7

4star

CL

0.0

1star

D

10.3

3star

K

7.0

3star

HB

3.3

2star

M

3.0

3star

T

1.7

3star

CL

0.0

1star

D

10.3

3star

K

7.0

3star

HB

3.3

3star

M

3.0

3star

T

1.7

4star

CL

0.0

1star

is a prolific ball-winner and creative user of the footy by hand and foot. He played predominantly on a wing in the early matches of the 2019 AFL Under-18 Championships before starring on the inside in the final match, gathering 33 disposals in a best-on-ground performance. A penetrating left-footer, he averaged 23.8 disposals and 4.8 tackles across the 2019 AFL Under-18 Championships and was rewarded with All Australian honours. He also played some excellent football at senior level with Norwood, averaging 18.2 disposals and 4.6 tackles in 12 matches. Stephens enjoyed a breakout season for the Bloods in 2020 with a memorable AFL debut in Round 6 against Richmond alongside fellow debutant, Chad Warner

1

Chad Warner

Age

22

Ht

185cm

Wt

82kg

Pos.

Mid

Career

Season

Last 5

D

7.0

2star

K

4.5

2star

HB

2.5

2star

M

1.5

2star

T

1.5

3star

CL

0.0

1star

D

7.0

1star

K

4.5

2star

HB

2.5

2star

M

1.5

2star

T

1.5

2star

CL

0.0

1star

D

7.0

2star

K

4.5

2star

HB

2.5

3star

M

1.5

2star

T

1.5

4star

CL

0.0

1star

. Stephens finished the campaign with eight appearances, averaging 12.5 disposals and 3.4 marks per game, while also kicking two goals.

Dylan Stephens

15

Dylan Stephens

Age

23

Ht

184cm

Wt

80kg

Pos.

Mid

Career

Season

Last 5

D

10.3

3star

K

7.0

3star

HB

3.3

3star

M

3.0

3star

T

1.7

4star

CL

0.0

1star

D

10.3

3star

K

7.0

3star

HB

3.3

2star

M

3.0

3star

T

1.7

3star

CL

0.0

1star

D

10.3

3star

K

7.0

3star

HB

3.3

3star

M

3.0

3star

T

1.7

4star

CL

0.0

1star

DOB: 08 January 2001
DEBUT: 2020
DRAFT: #5, 2019 National Draft
RECRUITED FROM: Red Cliffs (Vic)/Walkerville (SA)/St Peter's College (SA)/Norwood (SANFL)

Dylan Stephens | AFL

Follow Dylan Stephens's progress through AFL

www.sydneyswans.com.au

 

[Ed_Gein]

If it's any consolation, he's not the worst ex-Swan playing for their club.

 

[Grand Uncle Horace]

Bloke is getting absolutely dragged over on the North board


Sent from my iPhone using BigFooty.com

They all are bar Sheezel, Wardlaw and one or two others.

Norf Board does histrionics like no other Board.

 

[Big Blood]

They all are bar Sheezel, Wardlaw and one or two others.

Norf Board does histrionics like no other Board.

In fairness they have a lot to histrionicize about

 

[Dubai Quacker]

They all are bar Sheezel, Wardlaw and one or two others.

Norf Board does histrionics like no other Board.

Correction: the Port board is the undisputed champion of frothing histrionics.

 

[Olian]

Bloke is getting absolutely dragged over on the North board


Sent from my iPhone using BigFooty.com

To be fair the most liked post since the game was one which said he was ok. Not the most damning post of all time.

 

[tombomb]

I thought he was ok yesterday.. He isn't 'that' far away.

Thought the same thing in his last few games with us. He gets into good spots. His disposal is reasonable. He just needs to lift his intensity by about 20%.

I've said a few times on here that I thought it was a mistake to move to North.

I get why he may have made a financial decision. But footballing wise I think he would have been much better off staying with us and fighting for his position in the team, rather than going to North because it is easier to get a game - and now becoming their whipping boy.

Right now, I think he is a fringe AFL player. Which he would have been viewed as if he stayed with us. But now he is at North and they are expecting him to be one of their better players, which isn't going to happen unless he dramatically improves.

 

[SeanM]

I thought it would be a good move for him. If he stayed Stephens could have been a 5th year player in the reserves waiting for an opportunity behind Gulden, McInerney and Campbell.

So better to take a 4 year contract at North and have a good chance of playing 23 games of AFL each season.

 

[Ed_Gein]

I thought it would be a good move for him. If he stayed Stephens could have been a 5th year player in the reserves waiting for an opportunity behind Gulden, McInerney and Campbell.

So better to take a 4 year contract at North and have a good chance of playing 23 games of AFL each season.

Yep, he wasn't going to be anything more than depth and/or in and out of the team with us, so it makes sense he'd take the North offer for security and a good 4 year deal; and we got an upgrade on him in Jordan, anyway.

 

[BloodySwan]

Moving to North was the right move.

He'll get game time until he is replaced in a couple seasons. Plus the max we would have given him is 2yrs.

I don't see him getting much better but he wouldn't have gotten any better at Sydney

 

[wilsonmatic]

Yep, he wasn't going to be anything more than depth and/or in and out of the team with us, so it makes sense he'd take the North offer for security and a good 4 year deal; and we got an upgrade on him in Jordan, anyway.

Disagree. The term depth player is way over used on here.. He was showing strong signs late last year.

 

[Ed_Gein]

Disagree. The term depth player is way over used on here.. He was showing strong signs late last year.

He showed ok signs in the first few rounds before going quiet then getting dropped. He was actually better in 2022 from memory, so he went backwards in 2023, anyway.

You think he could've been better than depth? Not every player that comes through the club is going to be a 200+ gamer. Always going to have players that just can't quite make an impression and become part of our best 22; Stephens is one of them, in my opinion. No shame in it really. Would you take him back based on his output for North so far? Or would you rather Jordan? Wouldn't make sense to have both.

 

[Kiama Chris]

He showed ok signs in the first few rounds before going quiet then getting dropped.

You think he could've been better than depth? Not every player that comes through the club is going to be a 200+ gamer. Always going to have players that just can't quite make an impression and become part of our best 22; Stephens is one of them, in my opinion. No shame in it really. Would you take him back based on his output for North so far? Or would you rather Jordan? Wouldn't make sense to have both.

So often we compare players who are just not the same, even if they spend a lot of time playing the same position.
Stephens was a wide winger, concentrating on running up and back. Not much contest work.
Jordon rotates through the wing but spends time inside and at HHF.
Our expectations of his activities should be different.

 

[Ed_Gein]

He has taken Stephens spot in our team, though, even if slightly different roles. Man-for-man Jordan is a better player so we've improved our strength in depth.

I wish Stephens well at North, but he wasn't good enough for us and where we want to be, surely? He was a soft outsider that went missing more often than not.

 

[Ticky009]

I thought it would be a good move for him. If he stayed Stephens could have been a 5th year player in the reserves waiting for an opportunity behind Gulden, McInerney and Campbell.

So better to take a 4 year contract at North and have a good chance of playing 23 games of AFL each season.

Plus most players would have been thrilled to have Clarkson as their new coach. He's in a team that is expected to rise in the coming years under a great coach, i wish him all the best. However he'll find the furnace of footy in Vic a bit more in your face than what he had in NSW that's for sure.

 

[Jeffers]

Proves that we should just keep trading out of the early first round and just hit the jackpot with 2nd and 3rd round draftees like we usually do.
Getting Chad in that draft completely makes up for the bust even though I really wanted The die hard swans fan in Serong with our first.

Logan was a gift from Norf more than great recruiting.

 

[Ed_Gein]

Proves that we should just keep trading out of the early first round and just hit the jackpot with 2nd and 3rd round draftees like we usually do.
Getting Chad in that draft completely makes up for the bust even though I really wanted The die hard swans fan in Serong with our first.

Logan was a gift from Norf more than great recruiting.

Serong would be a beauty in our mids right now, and we wouldn't have had the need to recruit Adams I'd guess.

 

[JackHiscoxWasFast]

Serong would be a beauty in our mids right now, and we wouldn't have had the need to recruit Adams I'd guess.

Agree. Bit like us selecting Stephens when we should have taken Serong. North take Philips instead of Logan.

 

[caesar88]

The Serong angst still baffles me.

I think there's a slim chance we draft Chad Warner

1

Chad Warner

Age

22

Ht

185cm

Wt

82kg

Pos.

Mid

Career

Season

Last 5

D

7.0

2star

K

4.5

2star

HB

2.5

2star

M

1.5

2star

T

1.5

3star

CL

0.0

1star

D

7.0

1star

K

4.5

2star

HB

2.5

2star

M

1.5

2star

T

1.5

2star

CL

0.0

1star

D

7.0

2star

K

4.5

2star

HB

2.5

3star

M

1.5

2star

T

1.5

4star

CL

0.0

1star

if we'd already drafted a very similar player (at the time) earlier in that same draft. So there's no guarantee that if we picked Serong that we would've had this Warner/Serong duo everyone seems to be craving.

But OK let's say we do still draft Warner and they're both on our list. Warner probably doesn't even get games. Worth remembering that Serong was significantly more senior-ready in his first year than Warner. He won the Rising Star award while Warner managed just two games and wasn't anywhere near fit enough. Serong would've claimed the spot that is now Warner's. Because we know that the year after, Mills is added to the midfield, and then Gulden.

Warner would basically be what Sheldrick currently is... a promising young mid who is still mostly untried because he's far down the pecking order.

It's smart drafting - if the recruiters believed Warner was the equivalent of a Serong - to use a pick 39 to get said player, rather than a pick 5. If Stephens comes good, our draft strategy that year is seen as a masterstroke, because we got our own Serong for a lazy pick 39 plus the best inside/outside mid of that draft - which Stephens was, and denying that is pure revisionism, regardless of how he turned out.

Swings and roundabouts.

 

[grimlock]

Subbed out after just 5 disposals

 

[Dan87]

Not looking good for Dyl

Four years of awkward turtle potentially

 

[caesar88]

You have to wonder if at some point it stopped being about his quality as a player and became about his own psychology.

Is he, and was he ever, really this bad, or has the cumulative disappointments and setbacks along the way just made him forget how to be good?

Either way I feel really bad for him. In an ideal world every player would be good and get to live out their dream but it must especially sting if you've had the early career promise of being a top pick, highly rated junior etc.

 

[Maddo11]

Looks pretty bad but it must be hard as a predominantly outside player on a team that mostly can't win the hard pill

I wonder if he'll get the chance to earn his spot as they improve.

If they improve that is

 

[Dan87]

Looks pretty bad but it must be hard as a predominantly outside player on a team that mostly can't win the hard pill

I wonder if he'll get the chance to earn his spot as they improve.

If they improve that is

I think part of the problem is he was never meant to be just an outside player that can't win the hard ball

He's done that

 

[dosser]

I just hope he stays away from the Norf board. They are going ballistic.

 

[Jeffers]

Yeah reading the Norf board about him is pretty nuclear after todays effort.