Top SA draft prospects Dylan Stephens and Cam Taheny say Carlton coach wowed them most
David Teague isn’t just having an impact on the current playing group at Carlton, with two top draft prospects won over by the Blues boss at the national AFL combine.
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David Teague is a players’ coach.
He was admired and respected at Adelaide, and now at Carlton as he prepares to guide the Blues through the first pre-season of his senior-coaching tenure.
But it’s not just the current playing group Teague is having an impact on, with top South Australian draft prospects Dylan Stephens and Cam Taheny won over by the new Blues boss.
“The amount of interest David Teague took in the interview - he asked the majority of the questions - it was really, really good,” Stephens said of his national draft combine meeting with Carlton.
Speaking on The Lowdown AFL Draft Podcast, Stephens said senior coaches were not present at every interview and that there was only a handful at the combine.
“He was open to talking about his experience of going from a caretaker to being appointed head coach,” he said.
“He was someone who was really, really good to talk to. I loved that interview.
“He was definitely the one, I think, who took the most interest.”
Stephens - a classy, hard-running midfielder who models his game on Giant Josh Kelly - admitted he was “probably a bit biased” given he grew up a Carlton supporter, but he wasn’t the only draft hopeful who Teague had an impact on.
“David Teague pretty well ran the whole interview process at the combine,” fellow Norwood young gun Cam Taheny explained.
“You don’t expect to walk into an interview and have the head coach of a club fire away questions at you for 20 minutes.
“That in itself is quite an experience.”
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Taheny, who burst onto the SANFL league scene in 2019 booting 11.4 in the first three matches of his career, had no prior connection, unlike Stephens, to Carlton, but he was equally as impressed.
“It was something new, something you wouldn’t really expect,” Taheny said.
“Having the head coach fire away those questions at you definitely has an impact on you, for sure.”
There’s still plenty to play out, but Stephens could be right in the mix for Carlton’s first pick at No. 9, depending on what happens at the draft’s pointy-end.
The 18-year-old’s run-and-carry on the outside is still his eye-catching asset, but he also possesses a terrific ability, developed at a young age, to win the ball on the inside.
Having moved from Mildura to Adelaide for school in year nine, Stephens would “love to stay in SA” but he’s happy at the thought of another interstate journey.
“The idea of moving away is exciting,” he said.
“Come draft night, it’s a bit of a cliché answer, but I’d just be happy to be on an AFL list.”
