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News Port passes on Jaidyn Stephenson

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Chewy316 said:
If they think they're around 3 years away, Stephenson would be well past his prime at that point, whilst Zadow could be entering his.
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Long time reader, first time poster. Apologies if I rehash others comments.

It is hard to swallow from a fan's perspective what you are suggesting regarding the Club's view of the list and their goals for this year. As has been stated at length in different threads, two years ago we made a prelim. I would argue the list is the same if not better with the loss of Houston offset by the addition of Luko and the organic improvement of JHF, Bergman coupled with Butters, Rozee remaining in their prime.

We now have the excitement of a new coaching panel without the shitshow of the succession plan and the general staleness of the Hinkley regime hanging over our heads. We are relatively injury free and have a dream draw.

Why shouldn't we be in a win now mentality?

In addition to all that, we want to keep Butters. He epitomises Port Adelaide in the way he plays. If he truly hasn't made up his mind and success is the driving factor, than surely that is what we should be aiming for.

While I agree that getting Stephenson probably doesn't move the wheel that much, I think it is highly concerning if the reason he wasn't picked up if because the Club is already tempering its internal expectations. That is the classic loser mentality we had to endure under Ken for way to long. We should get the player that we think will help us win the most games this year.
 

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Fosman said:
Long time reader, first time poster. Apologies if I rehash others comments.

It is hard to swallow from a fan's perspective what you are suggesting regarding the Club's view of the list and their goals for this year. As has been stated at length in different threads, two years ago we made a prelim. I would argue the list is the same if not better with the loss of Houston offset by the addition of Luko and the organic improvement of JHF, Bergman coupled with Butters, Rozee remaining in their prime.

We now have the excitement of a new coaching panel without the shitshow of the succession plan and the general staleness of the Hinkley regime hanging over our heads. We are relatively injury free and have a dream draw.

Why shouldn't we be in a win now mentality?

In addition to all that, we want to keep Butters. He epitomises Port Adelaide in the way he plays. If he truly hasn't made up his mind and success is the driving factor, than surely that is what we should be aiming for.

While I agree that getting Stephenson probably doesn't move the wheel that much, I think it is highly concerning if the reason he wasn't picked up if because the Club is already tempering its internal expectations. That is the classic loser mentality we had to endure under Ken for way to long. We should get the player that we think will help us win the most games this year.
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Welcome
 
Fosman said:
Long time reader, first time poster. Apologies if I rehash others comments.

It is hard to swallow from a fan's perspective what you are suggesting regarding the Club's view of the list and their goals for this year. As has been stated at length in different threads, two years ago we made a prelim. I would argue the list is the same if not better with the loss of Houston offset by the addition of Luko and the organic improvement of JHF, Bergman coupled with Butters, Rozee remaining in their prime.

We now have the excitement of a new coaching panel without the shitshow of the succession plan and the general staleness of the Hinkley regime hanging over our heads. We are relatively injury free and have a dream draw.

Why shouldn't we be in a win now mentality?

In addition to all that, we want to keep Butters. He epitomises Port Adelaide in the way he plays. If he truly hasn't made up his mind and success is the driving factor, than surely that is what we should be aiming for.

While I agree that getting Stephenson probably doesn't move the wheel that much, I think it is highly concerning if the reason he wasn't picked up if because the Club is already tempering its internal expectations. That is the classic loser mentality we had to endure under Ken for way to long. We should get the player that we think will help us win the most games this year.
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Great first post. Can't argue with this at all.
 
#Port Patriot# said:
Zadow is only 21. He did seem pretty decent considering. Made a few mistakes but didn't seem to drop his head and cracked back into it from what I noticed in team trial simulation the week before. Also, being he's from WAFL Fremantle might of made Carr like him more. Suppose it makes a bit more sense to get the 21 year old who's either not far off the talent and skill etc as JS or close enough to it with more upside and potential plus less baggage.
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I like what I've seen of Zadow so far. At almost 22 (born March 2004) you'd think there's still upside.
However, he does seem to be another version of Richards, and not too dissimilar to Durdin, DBJ or even Berry in the type of forward he would be.

As a comparison, St Kilda - who many here wouldn't rate - go into this season with Liam Ryan, Higgins and Hall as three small forwards who can hit the scoreboard pretty regularly.
Carlton - another team that will be struggling to make the top 10, let alone 8 - have Ainsworth and Hayward.

The fact that our small forward stocks are less threatening than either of those two mediocre sides, is the concern for me. It's not like we have dominant big forwards to pick up the slack either. Only Georgiades has runs on the board.

We basically haven't replaced Rioli with another dangerous, goal savvy small forward. Cochrane is the only one on our list who seems to have any potential to be that type of forward, and that's on the back of 3-4 SANFL games at the start of last year, half of which were trial games.

Berry will improve this year, but he's not kicked more than 1 goal in any AFL match yet and doesn't really win the footy a lot inside 50.
Richards is a one goal per game forward at best, and is better suited to playing as a link man between the arcs.
Durdin's history strongly suggests he's not capable of being the player we need.
DBJ is a another goal per game type.

Who's going to regularly threaten with 2-3 goal outings other than Mitch G?
 
How refreshing is it to have a thoughtful first post rather than some burner for various players/coaches/family members/rucci/cornes/expat getting cross at people being critical.
 
I'm disappointed in the Stephenson decision. I was also disappointed in the Liam Jurrah decision years back. Then I learnt he was arrested wielding a machete in a home invasion and I was doubly disappointed- that is a fail safe way to create room inside 50.

I can't see where we are going to get our goals from. We had no aerial presence up forward on Friday night, there was no leading forward out there and our small forward brigade is probably the least talented in the AFL.

We seem to rely on opposition disrespecting the likes of DBJ (and that's exactly what I'd do) and leaving him unmarked inside 50.

At least Stephenson has talent and demands attention from opposition.
 
shewho said:
I'm disappointed in the Stephenson decision. I was also disappointed in the Liam Jurrah decision years back. Then I learnt he was arrested wielding a machete in a home invasion and I was doubly disappointed- that is a fail safe way to create room inside 50.

I can't see where we are going to get our goals from. We had no aerial presence up forward on Friday night, there was no leading forward out there and our small forward brigade is probably the least talented in the AFL.

We seem to rely on opposition disrespecting the likes of DBJ (and that's exactly what I'd do) and leaving him unmarked inside 50.

At least Stephenson has talent and demands attention from opposition.
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We also don't get a lot of goals from our mids: Butters scored one for the entire 2025 season; Wines, Drew and Brodie have never been goal scorers, neither are Bergman or Burgoyne.
 

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WTAF.

We just had a baby so the only reason we retained our membership was to support Carr coming in.

The season hasn't started and it already now feels like a mistake.

If Mead plays the first round, the toys will be out the pram, and it won't be due to the baby.
 
Doctor Feel said:
How refreshing is it to have a thoughtful first post rather than some burner for various players/coaches/family members/rucci/cornes/expat getting cross at people being critical.
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Thanks!

It was just really disappointing reading what Chewy316 wrote as I know he has an idea of the internal workings of the club. It would be really easy for Josh as a first year coach to buy into that bullshit and use it as a cop out and I really hope that won't be the case.

I personally believe that culture and system is far more important than the list itself. No one can seriously say our list is worse than Collingwood's when McRae took over and took them from 17th to 3rd or won a flag the next year with Billy Frampton at full-forward.

We are in the unique position of having guaranteed access to the number 1 draft pick next year (even noting the changes in matching rules) as well as one of the best players in the competition openly stating his decision to stay at the club will be a footballing one. There is literally nothing to gain in us rebuilding this year!

I, like most people on this board, have been so excited for this year with Ken finally gone. If the club is, even internally, pissing on that parade than I think that is pathetic.
 

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We should be in rebuild mode, whether people like it or not. 2024 was a massive abberation and we've gone significantly backwards since then while others have gone forwards.

We really need to nail the next few drafts, find several elite players to pair with the small group we have we know we can build around. Theres a crazy number of gaps on the list as it stands though.

Hopefully we can push for the 8, but we should be prioritising development this year. If that means we aren't bringing in 27 year olds that arent part of a long term future, im happy with that choice.
 
Fosman said:
Long time reader, first time poster. Apologies if I rehash others comments.

It is hard to swallow from a fan's perspective what you are suggesting regarding the Club's view of the list and their goals for this year. As has been stated at length in different threads, two years ago we made a prelim. I would argue the list is the same if not better with the loss of Houston offset by the addition of Luko and the organic improvement of JHF, Bergman coupled with Butters, Rozee remaining in their prime.

We now have the excitement of a new coaching panel without the shitshow of the succession plan and the general staleness of the Hinkley regime hanging over our heads. We are relatively injury free and have a dream draw.

Why shouldn't we be in a win now mentality?

In addition to all that, we want to keep Butters. He epitomises Port Adelaide in the way he plays. If he truly hasn't made up his mind and success is the driving factor, than surely that is what we should be aiming for.

While I agree that getting Stephenson probably doesn't move the wheel that much, I think it is highly concerning if the reason he wasn't picked up if because the Club is already tempering its internal expectations. That is the classic loser mentality we had to endure under Ken for way to long. We should get the player that we think will help us win the most games this year.
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Welcome to the forum.

I definitely understand and echo some of your sentiments. At the same time, it is my opinion when looking at the list profile, that it's on the young side and a few years away from having the requisite profile of other premiership winners over the last 20ish years.

As RussellEbertHandball messaged me earlier today, 6 players from the 2024 prelim team are no longer on the list (Boak, Burton, Dixon, F Evans, Narkle and Rioli) whilst Aliir, Wines and DBJ have all entered their 30s and slowing down. Additionally, SPP is coming back from another big injury, as is Marshall. So whilst I understand that there's bound to be organic growth, the list management team have essentially replaced those 6 who have left with young players who are going to take time to develop. Hence, I understand why they haven't necessarily gone "all-in" this season. Going "all-in" per se also leads you to end up making decisions like trading high end picks for more established, lower ceiling veterans (Ratugolea, Soldo etc).

I agree that there's a lot to be optimistic about internally with regards to the coaching team, the list and the draw.

Butters can say whatever he wants publicly about his decision being football related. If that were truly the case, he would be considering teams outside of Victoria for starters. The reality is that if he returns to Victoria it's because his mum has essentially been in his ear every day since he was drafted in 2018 to come home.

Port have already made multiple offers to Butters, including what imo was a silly 2 year deal with a further long term option in the player's favour of around 6 or so years to be added to it at any time of his choosing. This theoretically would mean Butters could have signed the 2 year extension and then left as an unrestricted free agent - and with the way the AFL is heading, would likely end in no compensation coming back to Port. As a restricted free agent, if Butters does leave, Port will rightly match the deal and force a trade, which should land them multiple first round picks. This is important especially in the context of acquiring all of Cochrane, Pilot, Salopek and potentially Rodan, who all could be first round picks in the draft (the two aforementioned top 5 picks if not higher).

FWIW, Port even considered trading Butters last year - they're far from oblivious about the likelihood of him going home to Victoria.

A quick look at our list shows what it looks like when you only include players who are 27 years of age or less:

F: Whitlock, Georgiades, Berry
HF: JHF, Lukosius, Richards
C: Burgoyne, Moraes
HB: Rozee, Farrell
B: Sinn, Ramm, Jones
FOLL: Visentini, Bergman, Butters
INT: Evans, Lorenz, Durdin

Other players I have deliberately omitted because I don't think they'll ever be in the best team at AFL level (at full strength) include:

Barrett
Tom Cochrane
Lai
Walsh
Anastasopoulos
Moss
Macklinay
Durdin
Liddy
Lord
Mead
Watkins

My point is that there is a reasonably strong nucleus in place. Even if you take out Butters, move JHF on the ball then add all of Dougie, Pilot and Salopek to it. It has strong potential, but it's clearly going to take time imo to realise said potential.

Fosman said:
Thanks!

It was just really disappointing reading what Chewy316 wrote as I know he has an idea of the internal workings of the club. It would be really easy for Josh as a first year coach to buy into that bullshit and use it as a cop out and I really hope that won't be the case.

I personally believe that culture and system is far more important than the list itself. No one can seriously say our list is worse than Collingwood's when McRae took over and took them from 17th to 3rd or won a flag the next year with Billy Frampton at full-forward.

We are in the unique position of having guaranteed access to the number 1 draft pick next year (even noting the changes in matching rules) as well as one of the best players in the competition openly stating his decision to stay at the club will be a footballing one. There is literally nothing to gain in us rebuilding this year!

I, like most people on this board, have been so excited for this year with Ken finally gone. If the club is, even internally, pissing on that parade than I think that is pathetic.
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You are spot on with regards to culture and system being more important than the list man for man. It's why we saw a fair amount of players with talent leave this off-season - they simply were not culture fits for what Carr wants to deliver.

I think you're overreacting though with the Stephenson non-selection. He would literally be taking one of the last list spots. He also hasn't played AFL football in 18 months, and has kicked 20 goals in a season just once in the last 5 years. Let's not mistake him for the young 2018 player who was a young star, because he's clearly not that anymore. And I'm far from oblivious to the notion that they need to find a small forward who can kick goals. Haven't had a reliable one since Fantasia in 2021 (Rioli was not reliable), and even that was only for a season.

FWIW, I will be personally happy with any more than 10 wins this season whilst keeping the blow out losses to a minimum - I've got the bar set pretty low, simply because the team was a mental mess by the end of last season, and given the turnaround in the list profile and the embracing of youth, I don't see a squad ready to win now at all. But if they keep this nucleus together for the next few years, finals is realistic in 2026 and they should be contending in 2027.
 
There has been a long history of successful "issued" players in SNAFUL/AFL. Hell, in all professional sports. Port have had their fair share. I can understand that their unpredictability can create management difficulties but sometimes it is worth it because those are the players that are the hardest to anticipate in the heat of finals. If they go south then you can always "Soldo" them.
 
Chewy316 said:
Haven't had a reliable one since Fantasia in 2021 (Rioli was not reliable), and even that was only for a season.
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Warren Tredrea in court level call there.

Fantasia's first season at Port he kicked 28 goals.

Willie Rioli kicked 33, 31 and 27 goals in his three seasons at Port.

And if your call that Willie was unreliable because of the amount of games he missed playing 19,20 and 19 games in those years. Fantasia only managed 15 games in that season. And that was the "reliable" Fantasia.
 
Duckimus Prime said:
Warren Tredrea in court level call there.

Fantasia's first season at Port he kicked 28 goals.

Willie Rioli kicked 33, 31 and 27 goals in his three seasons at Port.

And if your call that Willie was unreliable because of the amount of games he missed playing 19,20 and 19 games in those years. Fantasia only managed 15 games in that season. And that was the "reliable" Fantasia.
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My reference to reliability wasn't to do with games played. I never trusted Rioli in big games whilst he was as Port - it's a subjective comment and you don't have to agree with it. I enjoyed Willie's time at the Club, but I personally never thought he was someone who could be relied upon as the #1 small forward of a team who is a genuine flag contender (which Port were in 2023 and 2024 in particular). I thought that Port were an elite small forward short when Rioli played and I still feel that way now even with the benefit of hindsight

Fantasia's body unquestionably let him down even in 2021, but his form that year imo was closer to what I consider to be the benchmark of what I look for in a small forward, that is, an opportunist who can make something out of nothing and kick around 2 goals per game.
 
Chewy316 said:
I think you're overreacting though with the Stephenson non-selection. He would literally be taking one of the last list spots. He also hasn't played AFL football in 18 months, and has kicked 20 goals in a season just once in the last 5 years. Let's not mistake him for the young 2018 player who was a young star, because he's clearly not that anymore. And I'm far from oblivious to the notion that they need to find a small forward who can kick goals. Haven't had a reliable one since Fantasia in 2021 (Rioli was not reliable), and even that was only for a season.
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I think this argument would be easier to stomach if it weren’t completely inconsistent with the other decisions the club has made this offseason.

All we had to work with this offseason were salary and list spots. As such, we’ve just become the first club to opt out of an AFL draft, and our only inclusions were three players who were essentially delisted from other clubs, and what's going to be around four mature-age state league players. We haven’t prioritised youth, nor have we been hesitant to hand out list spots to players in Stephenson’s age bracket.

So it seems ridiculous to choose not to list him on that basis. Does the club genuinely believe some of the players we’ve brought in are better gambles?

Brodie is older, hasn’t played AFL in 2.5 years (a full year longer than Stephenson), and plays in a position where we already have depth. Jack Watkins is a 25-year-old State League midfielder who is shorter than the average AFL small forward, and again plays in a position where we already have depth. Clohsey, who is odds-on to take one of our last list spots, is another slow inside midfielder whose only hope of an AFL game is if we play him out of position, a la McEntee.

We were the perfect club to take a chance on Stephenson. He was cheap, available, has clear AFL-level talent, and fills a genuine list need. It would have been an absolute punt, and likely wouldn't have worked out, but we had nothing to lose by taking it and plenty to gain. Quality clubs take these punts all the time, like Sydney with Paddy McMartin, Geelong with Stengle and now Jack Martin, and even Gold Coast with JUH.

If Carr genuinely thinks that JACK WATKINS is more likely to positively impact our AFL team over the next 3 years than Stephenson, then I think it’s fair to be seriously concerned about his long-term decision-making.
 

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