Jump to content

Featured Replies

Posted

I would love us to grab Dylan Stephens, with either of our picks. But I can’t recall him being linked to us in any way. Am I missing out on something here? 

 

https://afl.draftcentral.com.au/tag/dylan-stephens/

Norwood/South Australia | Balanced Midfielder
08/01/2001 | 182cm | 70kg

Stephens is another lightly built midfielder who despite being just 70kg has forced his way into the SANFL League side for Norwood already in season 2019. Given the Redlegs’ tendancy to restrict kids from being exposed at the top level – see Luke Valente last year – it is a credit to Stephens – and teammate Taheny, to already earn their stripes. He has held his own too, admitedly playing a very outside game, but with many bigger bodies at the Redlegs, Stephens has terrific skills and moves well in transition, able to win the ball in midfield, take off and kick perfectly inside 50. He still has to add bulk to his frame, but he showed when taking on his peers he is capable of playing an inside role as well. Expect him to be the prime mover for South Australia at the Under 18 Championships and raise his stocks with a big couple of months.

He was one of the my choices in the poll.

Highlights are great. Looks very outside though. I wonder if we are still placing a high priority on players who can win a contest which will mean we overlook him?

Seems to me he is the number 1 pick from SA? Wouldn't be surprised to see the Crows pick him up at pick 4.

Couple of paywall articles if you have a login

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.adelaidenow.com.au/sport/afl/the-eyecatching-run-of-dylan-stephens-is-his-no-1-asset-but-its-josh-kellys-allround-game-that-he-wants-to-emulate/news-story/b19e0a5590ef00bb838686020a4e1a98

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/afl/more-news/norwood-youngster-dylan-stephens-has-spoken-to-all-but-one-afl-side-ahead-of-the-2019-draft/news-story/a34acc488c1596a27a976e5490ba6817

 

 

 

Was a yes for me until we got Langdon, Tomlinson, Bennell, maybe Murray and low chance Martin.

I wanted to check if he met the magical 30% contested ball percentage and he does

National champs: 32 of 94 = 34%
SANFL: 80 of 244 =33%
SANFL ressies: 38 of 64 = 59%

Apart from that I think at 182cm - ok but not anything useful for the air, good but not great pace and a nice kick but maybe not Whitfield style lasers on both sides is he just below the top 5 in the draft? 

And then is he the best of an even bunch that rate from 5-15? 

Would be very happy to get him at pick 8 but he might be gone and there might be other options that help us more.


27 minutes ago, olisik said:

Was a yes for me until we got Langdon, Tomlinson, Bennell, maybe Murray and low chance Martin.

Assuming the club knows the likely result with Martin I can't see the others on that list impacting our draft plans. 

Bennell's almost no chance to play games, Murray's a slim chance to play well enough to hold down a spot, Tomlinson will be useful for 3-4 years as a role player which leaves only Langdon as a long term player. Whilst he locks down a wing spot we still have long term needs of run and class off half back, half forward and the other wing.

Stephens looks the goods and I’m hoping we land him at pick 8. I think he’s surprise a few by performing well very early in his career despite not having a big body. His pace, agility and goal scoring ability mean he can start as a half forward and progress into the midfield over time.

His pace is really good, which those highlights showcase. We’re in the fortunate position having two top 10 draft picks in possibly the quickest lot of top draftees ever.

Stephens will hit the ground running.

I’d take him at 3.

Edited by deefender
Clarity

 

Young at 3

Stephens at 8

If for some reason we miss then it's Kemp and barring those two Kozzie.

If we split the pick we more than likely miss all three.  Just get the best available unless a fairy tale pick swap/scenario presents on the night.

Would need to be 10 and an early 20ish to have any chance of landing a dynamic double in say Stephens/Kemp (likely to be 7ish to 11ish) + Kozzie (20ish).

  • Author
3 hours ago, Dees247 said:

I would love us to grab Dylan Stephens, with either of our picks. But I can’t recall him being linked to us in any way. Am I missing out on something here? 

People are missing my main point here. I have never heard him linked to us. Not once. Has anyone ever heard linked to the Dees?


2 minutes ago, Dees247 said:

People are missing my main point here. I have never heard him linked to us. Not once. Has anyone ever heard linked to the Dees?

What does that matter? The draft is still weeks away.

Anyway, watching these videos on YouTube with this young kid who interviews draft hopefuls, Stephens is a Victorian and only been in SA for the past 3 years on a scholarship.

 

  • Author
3 minutes ago, MikeAlphaTango said:

What does that matter? The draft is still weeks away.

Anyway, watching these videos on YouTube with this young kid who interviews draft hopefuls, Stephens is a Victorian and only been in SA for the past 3 years on a scholarship.

 

It matters in that we have been linked to most of the players in the top group, but not him (as far as what I have heard). This could suggest that he is not up there in our thinking. I could be wrong about this of course. I was hoping someone else may have heard that we rate him highly. This doesn't mean that we won't draft him of course. Anything (within reason), could happen.

1 hour ago, Dees247 said:

It matters in that we have been linked to most of the players in the top group, but not him (as far as what I have heard). This could suggest that he is not up there in our thinking. I could be wrong about this of course. I was hoping someone else may have heard that we rate him highly. This doesn't mean that we won't draft him of course. Anything (within reason), could happen.

I don’t believe we have put a lot of time into him, which is probably because we don’t think he is pick 3 but expect him to go to Sydney, Crows or Freo who all need outside speed. 


It's like some twisted exposure therapy to determine if a patient has truly recovered from MFCSS as claimed: 

Stephens is another

lightly built

midfielder

being just 70kg

SANFL League side

2 hours ago, Skuit said:

It's like some twisted exposure therapy to determine if a patient has truly recovered from MFCSS as claimed: 

Stephens is another

lightly built

midfielder

being just 70kg

SANFL League side

 

12 hours ago, BAMF said:

Highlights are great. Looks very outside though. I wonder if we are still placing a high priority on players who can win a contest which will mean we overlook him?

Once bitten...always wary of outside players from SA.

8 minutes ago, rjay said:

 

Once bitten...always wary of outside players from SA.

Toumpas had great skills but average speed and endurance coming off hip injuries. Stephens doesn't have these deficiencies but isn't as smooth as Toumpas.

In my mind they are completely different type of players.

However, I understand the concern.

18 minutes ago, rjay said:

 

Once bitten...always wary of outside players from SA.

I could have added 'Norwood' (and would have if it wasn't my life-long team) as it hasn't been the happiest of hunting grounds for us in recent years. And for other teams as well, in respect to light-bodied mids - not mentioning any names - cough cough - legendary bloodline - cough cough - James 'have fun in Fremantle' Aish. The exception of course being uber Alex Georgiou. 

46 minutes ago, BAMF said:

Toumpas had great skills but average speed and endurance coming off hip injuries. Stephens doesn't have these deficiencies but isn't as smooth as Toumpas.

In my mind they are completely different type of players.

However, I understand the concern.

Not just Toumpas 'BAMF'...as 'Skuit' mentions above but there are more.


1 hour ago, rjay said:

Once bitten...always wary of outside players from SA.

Don't think he's just an outside player.

12 hours ago, DeeSpencer said:

I wanted to check if he met the magical 30% contested ball percentage and he does

National champs: 32 of 94 = 34%
SANFL: 80 of 244 =33%
SANFL ressies: 38 of 64 = 59%

 

Edited by Moonshadow

1 hour ago, rjay said:

 

Once bitten...always wary of outside players from SA.

If we don’t draft from states where we had previously drafted duds then all we can draft is 6’11” ex kiwis?

9 hours ago, Watson11 said:

I don’t believe we have put a lot of time into him, which is probably because we don’t think he is pick 3 but expect him to go to Sydney, Crows or Freo who all need outside speed. 

No as much as us!!!

 
35 minutes ago, Watson11 said:

If we don’t draft from states where we had previously drafted duds then all we can draft is 6’11” ex kiwis?

Sounds like a good approach to me. Add pizza-gobbling smokers to the criteria and it's practically fool-proof. 

You haven’t heard any mention of Stephens from the Club?

Good. I hope Jason Taylor is playing a strategic game, keeping his cards close to his chest.


Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Unfortunately, your content contains terms that we do not allow. Please edit your content to remove the highlighted words below.
Reply to this topic...

Featured Content

  • PREVIEW: Brisbane

    And just like that, we’re Narrm again. Even though the annual AFL Sir Doug Nicholls Round which commemorates the contributions of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture to our game has been a welcome addition to our calendar for ten years, more lately it has been a portent of tough times ahead for we beleaguered Narrm supporters. Ever since the club broke through for its historic 2021 premiership, this has become a troubling time of the year for the club. For example, it all began when Melbourne rebranded itself as Narrm across the two rounds of the Sir Doug Nicholls Round to become the first club to adopt an Indigenous club name especially for the occasion. It won its first outing under the brand against lowly North Melbourne to go to 10 wins and no losses but not without a struggle or a major injury to  star winger Ed Langdon who broke his ribs and missed several weeks. In the following week, still as Narrm, the team’s 17 game winning streak came to an end at the hands of the Dockers. That came along with more injuries, a plague that remained with them for the remainder of the season until, beset by injuries, the Dees were eliminated from the finals in straight sets. It was even worse last year, when Narrm inexplicably lowered its colours in Perth to the Waalit Marawar Eagles. Oh, the shame of it all! At least this year, if there is a corner to turn around, it has to be in the direction of something better. To that end, I produced a special pre-game chant in the local Narrm language - “nam mi:wi winnamun katjil prolin ambi ngamar thamelin amb” which roughly translated is “every heart beats true for the red and the blue.” >y belief is that if all of the Narrm faithful recite it long enough, then it might prove to be the only way to beat the Brisbane Lions at the Gabba on Sunday. The Lions are coming off a disappointing draw at Marvel Stadium against a North Melbourne team that lacks the ability and know how to win games (except when playing Melbourne). Brisbane are, however, a different kettle of fish at home and have very few positional weaknesses. They are a midfield powerhouse, strong in defence and have plenty of forward options, particularly their small and medium sized players, to kick a winning score this week after the sting of last week’s below par performance.

      • Thumb Down
    • 5 replies
    Demonland
  • REPORT: Hawthorn

    There was a time during the current Melbourne cycle that goes back to before the premiership when the club was the toughest to beat in the fourth quarter. The Demons were not only hard to beat at any time but it was virtually impossible to get the better them when scores were close at three quarter time. It was only three or four years ago but they were fit, strong and resilient in body and mind. Sadly, those days are over. This has been the case since the club fell off its pedestal about 12 months ago after it beat Geelong and then lost to Carlton. In both instances, Melbourne put together strong, stirring final quarters, one that resulted in victory, the other, in defeat. Since then, the drop off has been dramatic to the point where it can neither pull off victory in close matches, nor can it even go down in defeat  gallantly.

    • 0 replies
    Demonland
  • CASEY: Footscray

    At twenty-four minutes into the third term of the game between the Casey Demons and Footscray VFL at Whitten Oval, the visitors were coasting. They were winning all over the ground, had the ascendancy in the ruck battles and held a 26 point lead on a day perfect for football. What could go wrong? Everything. The Bulldogs moved into overdrive in the last five minutes of the term and booted three straight goals to reduce the margin to a highly retrievable eight points at the last break. Bouyed by that effort, their confidence was on a high level during the interval and they ran all over the despondent Demons and kicked another five goals to lead by a comfortable margin of four goals deep into the final term before Paddy Cross kicked a couple of too late goals for a despondent Casey. A testament to their lack of pressure in the latter stages of the game was the fact that Footscray’s last ten scoring shots were nine goals and one rushed behind. Things might have been different for the Demons who went into the game after last week’s bye with 12 AFL listed players. Blake Howes was held over for the AFL game but two others, Jack Billings and Taj Woewodin (not officially listed as injured) were also missing and they could have been handy at the end. Another mystery of the current VFL system.

    • 0 replies
    Demonland
  • PREGAME: Brisbane

    The Demons head back out on the road in Round 10 when they travel to Queensland to take on the reigning Premiers and the top of the table Lions who look very formidable. Can the Dees cause a massive upset? Who comes in and who goes out?

      • Sad
      • Love
      • Thanks
      • Like
    • 136 replies
    Demonland
  • PODCAST: Hawthorn

    The Demonland Podcast will air LIVE on Monday, 12th May @ 8:00pm. Join Binman, George & I as we dissect the Demons loss to the Hawks. Your questions and comments are a huge part of our podcast so please post anything you want to ask or say below and we'll give you a shout out on the show. If you would like to leave us a voicemail please call 03 9016 3666 and don't worry no body answers so you don't have to talk to a human.

    • 52 replies
    Demonland
  • POSTGAME: Hawthorn

    Wayward kicking for goal, dump kicks inside 50 and some baffling umpiring all contributed to the Dees not getting out to an an early lead that may have impacted the result. At the end of the day the Demons were just not good enough and let the Hawks run away with their first win against the Demons in 7 years.

      • Haha
      • Like
    • 376 replies
    Demonland