Tyson Goldsack: The torture sessions that have Jaidyn Stephenson primed for finals

It’s Collingwood’s version of hell. A punishing Saturday training session for players who have recovered from injury, While some are unlucky to do it three time, Jaidyn Stephenson had to endure nine weeks of torture.

At Collingwood, we call it “Super Saturday”, but it’s nowhere near as exciting as it sounds.

In fact, it’s the closest thing to hell for Collingwood players on the road to recovery and for Jaidyn Stephenson it has been his start to the weekend for nine out of the past 10 Saturdays before this weekend.

Let’s paint the picture for what these gruelling sessions mean.

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They are scheduled for the players who are just about ready to resume playing football. The session pushes them to extremes to have them cherry ripe for their comebacks.

Usually, the guys getting out of the rehab group do it for two weeks. A few unlucky ones have had to do it for three weeks.

But in light of Stevo’s unusual 10-game ban, he was forced to sweat it out for three times the normal amount of Super Saturdays than most of us have had to do.

Players engaged on Saturday have to do a minimum of 10km running to help simulate the game loads.

It’s normally in excess of 10km — measured with your GPS strapped to your back or through your watch — and includes footy-type drills, repeat loads, fartlek running, game simulation and retrievals.

Banned forward Jaidyn Stephenson completed nine tortuous “Super Saturday” sessions to prepare him for his return for finals. Picture: Jake Nowakowski

Retrievals are precisely as they sound. You have someone kick a ball out at an angle and your task is to run and get it back to him as fast as you can — over and over and over again.

I’m sure Stevo has had plenty of sleepless Friday nights knowing what was coming the next day. He would have slept like a baby on the Saturday night in exhaustion.

The only Super Saturday he missed was when he spent a few days having a break with his family in Cairns. More of that later.

What those sessions have done — on top of Saturday’s return via the VFL against Box Hill Hawks — is make him as prepared as he possibly could be to launch into the first AFL final in just under two weeks time.

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Jaidyn is a good kid who made a very silly mistake and paid the price for his indiscretion.

So what does that leave us with … a good kid who has done everything he can do to make amends for his actions.

He has done the wrong thing. We know that. He knows that.

He copped his right whack, with a bit of GST added in.

All credit to him for being open and honest about his mistake, which is more than we can say for some other footballers.

Stephenson has served his 10-game AFL ban. Picture: Michael Klein

But what he has done across the past 10 weeks has shown his character and that he will leave no stone unturned to get the most out of himself in footy’s most important month.

From the moment he spoke to the group about his betting ban he was remorseful and embarrassed. In the time since, he has worked tirelessly.

He was a young man who had a standout debut year — winning the Rising Star — and never had a bad word written or said about him. Rightly so, too.

He found it hard to deal with the negative external comments for the first week or two after his ban was delivered.

That came in two different ways — the initial response to the ban (which was fair enough) and the commentary surrounding his trip to Cairns (which was hysterical).

When he went up there, the club had a weekend off, and also the Tuesday off, so Jaidyn missed ONE day of training (which was approved by the club).

Had anyone seen the weeks of hard work and toil he put in before that weekend, no one would have doubted him.

By the way, I didn’t have any issue with him posting a few snapshots on social media, either.

How does a second-year player influence a footy club when he is not playing? He tips into the program and leaves nothing in the tank.

That’s exactly what he has done since he was handed the 10-match suspension.

He’s been to the training sessions and he has not missed one meeting. He’s even been to meetings he didn’t need to be at.

Part of that has been the role he has played leading into games.

He has sometimes worked as a “shadow” with the senior team at training. That means at training he has taken on the role of a certain player from the opposition the club is playing the following weekend. I’ve got no doubt that has helped us.

His absence on match day has been noticeable. He was sorely missed in those early weeks and the forward line looked a little stagnant.

But the boys are gelling a bit better in attack now and with Jaidyn and Jordan De Goey to come back for the finals, it’s exciting.

Stevo creates opportunity with the speed he generates and his work rate is massive. He is a genuine livewire who will be ready to go when the first final rolls around.

What has happened to Stevo this year won’t define him as a person. Far from it.

But what happens to him next will, and I for one, can’t wait to see how he fares in September — and beyond.

Originally published as Tyson Goldsack: The torture sessions that have Jaidyn Stephenson primed for finals