Past #3 Dylan Stephens

[Kennedy Parker]

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

[PLAYERCARD]Dylan Stephens[/PLAYERCARD]
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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[sthmelb_dimmies]

Not too thrilled. Needed an inside mid, got an outside mid who does not find that much of the ball and who "may" be able to play inside, but is not really proven.

Nostradamus this post

 

[sthmelb_dimmies]

Was hoping for Serong or Flanders to be honest but I have faith in our recruiting staff. Welcome aboard Dylan.

And this one

 

[.Shotties.]

Nostradamus this post

In fairness, this is a bit of a broken clock situation.

 

[MF]

I can’t stand the bloke but I expect Clarko has a better finals record and ditto Chris Scott and even Dimma. In his 11 seasons of Finals, there was one glorious Premiership and three ignominious exits - 2 shameful GF performances plus another v Geelong.

No-one here believes he is a **** coach but is a very good coach with some deficits. To his credit I believe he recognised his own deficits and took measures to arrest these, inc Pike coming in.

Yeah, fair call on those 3. That's a very small crop to be sitting behind over a decade or more though. Compared to most I think his finals record stands up okay.

 

[GoTheSwannies]

Finals records in the decade from 2010-2019.



And H&A season



note: It's from an old article, so obviously doesn't include 2020 onwards.

 

[Thuggee_Cult]

In fairness to Dylan, this is not on him. It’s on our recruitment staff.

He plays an outside runner role that we had an oversupply on in 2019 and still do now.

We need inside mids now and Serong was there for the taking. Kennedy was 31 and Parker was 27 at the time.

I hope he does go to another club and carve out a good career, none of this was his fault.

 

[Millky95]

We need inside mids now and Serong was there for the taking.

Still convinced we pick Serong and we don't pick Warner

Who would people rather?

 

[sataris]

Still convinced we pick Serong and we don't pick Warner

Who would people rather?

Warong

 

[.Shotties.]

He plays an outside runner role that we had an oversupply on in 2019 and still do now.

Who did we have as performing wings at the time?

 

[Thuggee_Cult]

Still convinced we pick Serong and we don't pick Warner

Who would people rather?

I meant picking up Serong instead of Stephens. We could have easily had both.

People gush how we got Warner with a third rounder but forget that he was our fourth pick overall.

One of those three players picked before him was rightly shown the door and it appears that the other two won’t be there next year.

 

[Thuggee_Cult]

Who did we have as performing wings at the time?

Off the top of my head Florent, McInerney, Blakey and Dawson.

 

[.Shotties.]

Off the top of my head Florent, McInerney, Blakey and Dawson.

I at the end of 2019? Dawson I'll give you, but McInerny, Blakey, and Florent were absolutely not performing outside wingers or runners at that point.

 

[kelpie_X]

Warong

Hungry?

 

[Millky95]

I meant picking up Serong instead of Stephens. We could have easily had both.

People gush how we got Warner with a third rounder but forget that he was our fourth pick overall.

One of those three players picked before him was rightly shown the door and it appears that the other two won’t be there next year.

We wouldn't have picked an inside mid later if we picked one earlier

 

[Thuggee_Cult]

I at the end of 2019? Dawson I'll give you, but McInerny, Blakey, and Florent were absolutely not performing outside wingers or runners at that point.

Florent and McInerney where rotating through there in 19/20.

Blakey soon after that

 

[.Shotties.]

Florent and McInerney where rotating through there in 19/20.

Blakey soon after that

At the end of 2019 when we made the pick, Florent was a pretty low-quality wing, McInerney had played one game for one disposal, and Blakey hadn't been tried as a wing. An 18 year old who had performed well on the wing against grown men and had shown the ability to rotate through the inside wasn't a massively bone-headed pick

 

[Dan87]

We actually drafted Stephens hoping he would come on physically and be an inside mid in the Josh Kelly mould

 

[Adnico26Parker]

Trade complete, Dylan is officially off to North

 

[GreyGooseGuy88]

Trade complete, Dylan is officially off to North

I reckon he will become a better player elsewhere. Good luck to him.

 

[caesar88]

Good luck to him

 

[Millky95]

He will play well and have a really good career.

 

[Ticky009]

All the best at North, Dylan.

 

[zyzzbruh]

Sigh of relief
Good luck, he's going to need it. I doubt Clarko will be any more forgiving

 

[Millky95]

I'm lowkey really bummed

 

[wills2g]

we saw glimpses of what he could become - most telling was our finals run last year

all the best to dylan and hope he can capture that form at north