Jaidyn Stephenson could become the first player since Dan Hannebery to clean sweep the Rising Star award
SUCH has been the significance of Jaidyn Stephenson’s debut season that he could well become the first player since Daniel Hannebery to clean sweep the Rising Star. Will he get close? Our experts give their votes.
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SUCH has been the significance of Jaidyn Stephenson’s debut year that he could well become the first player since Daniel Hannebery in 2010 to clean sweep the Rising Star award.
The Rising Star began in 1993 when won by Nathan Buckley and is presented to a player aged under-21 at January 1 and who has not played 10 games by that date or been suspended.
Twenty-five years later it’s appropriate that Buckley coaches the prodigiously talented Stephenson.
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The 19-year-old from Ferntree Gully, who needs daily medication for a hereditary heart condition, was taken at Pick 6 by the Magpies in the 2017 National Draft.
He first announced himself as a mop-haired wingman who set the 2015 TAC Cup U18 Grand Final alight for Eastern Ranges, despite being just 16.
He has kept rising to each level since to the point where he hasn’t missed a game for the Pies, booting 34 goals and averaging 13 possessions and four marks as a particularly dangerous, and fast, 188cm forward.
For him not to win the Rising Star would be a shock similar to the 2014 award when Brisbane’s Lewis Taylor beat odds-on favourite Marcus Bontempelli by a vote.
In fact Stephenson deserves to be in the mix when selecting the recruit of 2018.
That is open to any player whether it be 34-year-old Gary Ablett returning to Geelong or Melbourne’s Charlie Spargo, who won’t turn 19 until November 25.
Luke Hodge, Adam Saad, Jake Stringer, Bryce Gibbs, Devon Smith, Jake Lever and Charlie Cameron are others who wore new colours this year, while Tim Kelly is a 24-year-old mature-aged recruit who finally found himself on an AFL list after Geelong took a punt with Pick 24.
Of that group only Smith received an All-Australian nomination in the initial 40-man squad, before ultimately being unlucky to miss final selection.
But his impact on Essendon’s season and the competition in general places him No. 1 in my book when it comes to the AFL Recruit of the Year.
Ablett gets my second after winning at least 30 possessions on 10 occasions, and his kicking efficiency is still very good.
What he suffers from are the ridiculously high standards he has set since his breakout season in 2007.
Others may prefer his teammate in Kelly, who actually leads Ablett in contested possessions, tackles and clearances.
But the detracting factor was his disposal which rarely reached Ablett’s levels.
HERALD SUN RISING STAR VOTING
MARK ROBINSON
5 Tom Doedee
4 Jaidyn Stephenson
3 Alex Witherden
2 Ben Ronke
1 Jack Higgins
LAUREN WOOD
5 Jaidyn Stephenson
4 Tom Doedee
3 Ben Ronke
2 Alex Witherden
1 Cam Rayner
JON RALPH
5 Jaidyn Stephenson
4 Tom Doedee
3 Alex Witherden
2 Jack Henry
1 Jack Higgins
SAM LANDSBERGER
5 Jaidyn Stephenson
4 Ben Ronke
3 Tom Doedee
2 Aaron Naughton
1 Alex Witherden
JON ANDERSON
5 Jaidyn Stephenson
4 Alex Witherden
3 Tom Doedee
2 Jack Higgins
1 Jack Henry
TOTAL
24 Stephenson
19 Doedee
13 Witherden
9 Ronke
4 Higgins
3 Henry
2 Naughton
1 Rayner
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Originally published as Jaidyn Stephenson could become the first player since Dan Hannebery to clean sweep the Rising Star award