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Past #3 Dylan Stephens

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Dylan Stephens
The Sydney Swans used their first pick five since Jarrad McVeigh in 2002 to lock in a talented midfielder from South Australian club Norwood at the 2019 AFL Draft. Dylan Stephens 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. Stephens finished the campaign with eight appearances, averaging 12.5 disposals and 3.4 marks per game, while also kicking two goals.

Dylan Stephens
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)

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Blacky said:
I preferred Serong and so far I feel vindicated
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Serious question: How much difference does the group that he's playing with make?

If he was playing in the was performing poorly, do you think he would be too?

And do you take into account whether any of his mates were in the Sydney team, or if he knew anyone at all in Sydney?

Or is your pick based on skill alone?

Just asking, not critiquing...
 
Kirkswan said:
Serious question: How much difference does the group that he's playing with make?

If he was playing in the was performing poorly, do you think he would be too?

And do you take into account whether any of his mates were in the Sydney team, or if he knew anyone at all in Sydney?

Or is your pick based on skill alone?

Just asking, not critiquing...
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I’m not sure I follow, are you asking whether he is homesick and that’s impacting it? Are you asking whether he would be better in a different side?

Serong moved from Vic to Freo which is at least similar to Stephens move (if not further/harder)

My initial pick was based on eye test.
 
Blacky said:
I’m not sure I follow, are you asking whether he is homesick and that’s impacting it? Are you asking whether he would be better in a different side?

Serong moved from Vic to Freo which is at least similar to Stephens move (if not further/harder)

My initial pick was based on eye test.
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Smart arse...

It seems when we have multiple choices, we tend towards players who have played in the same comps as youngsters, just wondered if you took that type of thing into consideration when making your choice... Seems to be a trend to avoid the 'go home' factor. I also think they take a number of other factors into consideration as well.

Personally, I think the whole 'it's hard to move across the country' as an 18 year old is a load of crap. You move and instantly have 30-40 new best mates, while the rest of us just have to go the pub and drink until we find mates!!

But from your answer, I'm guessing you base your pick on talent alone... enough said.
 
Kirkswan said:
Smart arse...

It seems when we have multiple choices, we tend towards players who have played in the same comps as youngsters, just wondered if you took that type of thing into consideration when making your choice... Seems to be a trend to avoid the 'go home' factor. I also think they take a number of other factors into consideration as well.

Personally, I think the whole 'it's hard to move across the country' as an 18 year old is a load of crap. You move and instantly have 30-40 new best mates, while the rest of us just have to go the pub and drink until we find mates!!

But from your answer, I'm guessing you base your pick on talent alone... enough said.
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Yeah I don’t factor that in at all.

Wasn’t trying to be a smartarse either.

Would love him to become the next Gaff as we could really use that alongside Warner and Rowbottom
 

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I think he was always going to take time to adjust to senior football.

I think some people's expectation are too high. Last season some were expecting him to be playing from round 1. And this year there was confusion when he was not selected since he was seen by some as best 22
 
If he wasn't pick 5 there wouldn't be so much scrutiny on him. Second year mid, he's doing fine. Give him 2 more years before writing him off.

People have already said "top 5 draft picked, played seniors in the SANFL who was supposedly ready to go", all I hear is you bought into the hype and he hasn't delivered. Not that he's doing poorly
 
Wasn't surprised when I heard in the weekends commentary that Carlton were going to take him if we didn't. Said it before, he fits their demographic perfectly...

I get he's skinny and lacks experience, but what has worried me about him isn't his lack of ball winning ability or ball use, it's not about that it's not about only playing 12 games. It's his demeanor. I found it very noticeable form day 1. He lacks energy out on the ground and seems reserved. Comes across as a confidence type player who waits for others around him to lift before he tags along. And when your club has a culture of building a team of players who are willing to put the team on their back and drag us over the line, Stephens sticks out like a sore thumb. So far all sign point to him being a follower, and those two moments on the weekend where he got scared of the wind, only solidified my concerns.

You look at the energy Jmac, rowbottom, warner, gulden, blakey, hayward etc all played with from their first game, that's what you want. They all put their balls on the line, showed desperation and aren't scared to crack in, even if it didn't always work. And 99% of recruits in the league do the same, it's very rare that you see young kids not show desperation trying hard to take their chance.

Confidence player who lacks courage = Carlton will be all over him, they'd probably spout a first round pick. Imagine their fan base if they ended up with all 3 of Dow, SPS and Stephens. Hooly dooly.

In saying that I won't give up hope that he can develop into a Gaff type, who also seems like quite a reserved character. That is a big expectation, but if we are to keep a player of his type, I would want him to get pretty close to that expectation. The last thing we need are passengers who look around for inspiration rather than provide it themselves.
 
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BloodySwan said:
If he wasn't pick 5 there wouldn't be so much scrutiny on him. Second year mid, he's doing fine. Give him 2 more years before writing him off.

People have already said "top 5 draft picked, played seniors in the SANFL who was supposedly ready to go", all I hear is you bought into the hype and he hasn't delivered. Not that he's doing poorly
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He was pick 5 though and it’s important context. There’s an opportunity cost involved.
 
BloodySwan said:
If you buy shares and its value drops you do not sell, you hold. It's not a loss unless is actualised. Until then it's only a perceived loss. Plenty of time for Stephens value to increase and we get rewarded for a top 5 pick.

Wasn't that long ago people were saying Mills was a wasted top 3 draft pick
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Depends. If you were choosing between two shares and one goes up and one goes down you’ve lost by virtue of what you could have made (hence the opportunity cost).

Mills has been fine, but I still don’t see him as ultra damaging by either pace, disposal or hitting the scoreboard which is what my issue was to begin with. Stephens is different because we had other options.
 

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caesar88 said:
The pick does make sense the more I think about it, though I'd still prefer Kemp or Young.

We don't need inside mids as much as we need inside mids to be smarter and start using the players available to them on the outside. Stephens is very good at finding and using space in attacking, creative ways. If we find ways to actually bring him into the game he'll be a massive asset for us.

Stephens' pace and class on the outside will also mean that Florent, who is Extremely Limited, can play on the inside where he's more suited.
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Agree he is super dooper extremely limited.
 
zyzzbruh said:
Wasn't surprised when I heard in the weekends commentary that Carlton were going to take him if we didn't. Said it before, he fits their demographic perfectly...

I get he's skinny and lacks experience, but what has worried me about him isn't his lack of ball winning ability or ball use, it's not about that it's not about only playing 12 games. It's his demeanor. I found it very noticeable form day 1. He lacks energy out on the ground and seems reserved. Comes across as a confidence type player who waits for others around him to lift before he tags along. And when your club has a culture of building a team of players who are willing to put the team on their back and drag us over the line, Stephens sticks out like a sore thumb. So far all sign point to him being a follower, and those two moments on the weekend where he got scared of the wind, only solidified my concerns.

You look at the energy Jmac, rowbottom, warner, gulden, blakey, hayward etc all played with from their first game, that's what you want. They all put their balls on the line, showed desperation and aren't scared to crack in, even if it didn't always work. And 99% of recruits in the league do the same, it's very rare that you see young kids not show desperation trying hard to take their chance.

Confidence player who lacks courage = Carlton will be all over him, they'd probably spout a first round pick. Imagine their fan base if they ended up with all 3 of Dow, SPS and Stephens. Hooly dooly.

In saying that I won't give up hope that he can develop into a Gaff type, who also seems like quite a reserved character. That is a big expectation, but if we are to keep a player of his type, I would want him to get pretty close to that expectation. The last thing we need are passengers who look around for inspiration rather than provide it themselves.
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Nothing against you personally, but these whole "character assessment" type of posts give me the absolute shits. Because he doesn't carry on like a pork chop if he kicks a goal or seems reserved on the field he's somehow less than. If you want to doubt him then keep it isolated to his footballing ability because you likely know nothing about him personally. There's no evidence that a young player who is a quiet, reserved type can't grow into their own. When Jake Lloyd and Harry Cunningham started it was difficult to imagine them ever being leaders at the club, but they grew in confidence with each season. Maybe you should wait until after the fact to pass judgments on what Stephens as a person has been like at the Swans?

And for the record, it's actually not rare at all for kids to struggle with confidence in their early seasons. That some of our other kids have that confidence is why our group of youngsters have been talked about as among the best in the comp.
 

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HPKS said:
Adelaide will offer pick 37, we’ll ask for pick 5 & they’ll meet in between at pick 23. And a few years down the track a fair few on here will be pissing & moaning that we gave him away like we did Mitchell.

Then rinse & repeat as the usual suspects move onto someone else.
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Personally I think there'll be an announcement in the next month about a 2 year extension. AFL site reported early April that contract talks had just started.
 
Punts said:
We got 32 for Jones amd Jones is a hell of a lot better so expecting 37
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The same Zak Jones who played 4 and 11 games in his first 2 years, and got up to averaging 10.7 touches in his 2nd year. Also averaged less tackles and marks to that point of his career. Way better. Admittedly I don't know if or how many times Jones was sub back then. Though Dyl has been sub at least once this season.
 

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Past #3 Dylan Stephens

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