‘Oblivious’ Jaidyn Stephenson sorry for betting on Collingwood games after copping heavy suspension

Collingwood young gun Jaidyn Stephenson was overcome with guilt after placing three bets on Magpies games but it wasn’t until he made a comment to a teammate that he decided to come forward and reveal his massive mistake.

A shattered Jaidyn Stephenson fronts the media. Picture: Andrew Henshaw

Shattered Collingwood star Jaidyn Stephenson said the guilt of gambling on Collingwood games prompted his full confession.

The 2018 Rising Star winner was slapped with the heaviest gambling sanction in the game’s history after admitting he bet $36 in total on three Magpies matches.

The gun goal kicker was suspended for 10 matches and fined $20,000.

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He will also forego up to $50,000 in match payments, but will be free to return for the first week of Collingwood’s finals campaign.

Stephenson, 20, fought back tears as he came clean on the betting scandal which has derailed his sparkling career and delivered a major blow to the Pies’ premiership hopes.

The enormity of Stephenson’s mistake hit home after speaking with teammate Jeremy Howe about the bets in the wake of the Round 9 win over St Kilda.

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A shattered Jaidyn Stephenson fronts the media. Picture: Andrew Henshaw

“Obviously in the moment I was a little bit ignorant, I thought it might just be a harmless sort of thing,” Stephenson said.

“After the third time it was weighing on me, it was starting to build up. I was just feeling way too guilty.

“It was an incredibly stupid thing to do and I now realise the seriousness of what I have done.

“I am very embarrassed that I have let myself, my family and my teammates and our loyal fans down and I’m devastated I won’t be able to pull on a Collingwood jumper for the next 10 weeks.”

Breaching the AFL’s gambling rules, Stephenson placed multi-leg player performance bets on the victories over Western Bulldogs (Round 4), Essendon (Round 6) and St Kilda (Round 9).

But the day after the 41-point triumph over St Kilda, Stephenson turned himself in.

Football manager Geoff Walsh said Stephenson was “advised” by another person, believed to be teammate Howe, to fess up to the club.

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If Stephenson did not admit his mistake, his bets through a friend may have been undetected.

“Mum and Dad have always been big on make sure you tell the truth and anything you are holding (back) only hurts you in the long run,” Stephenson said.

While investigators have cleared him of any match-fixing attempts, Stephenson backed himself to kick multiple goals and other teammates to hit certain possession and goal targets in the three matches.

The league confirmed the bets also included Collingwood to win and Collingwood winning margin. All were unsuccessful.

Stephenson placed a bet from his own account and asked a friend to make the others.

“I was sitting on the couch (betting) with my mate, he was doing the same thing,” he said.

“At the time obviously I didn’t think about the bigger picture and the long-term consequences.

“Impacting on the integrity of the game, I now realise this is just not acceptable and I hope others can learn from my mistakes.”

Collingwood was hopeful Stephenson’s confession would help him receive a discount on his sanction and enable him to be availablefor finals.

Stephenson spoke to teammate Jeremy Howe about the bets. Picture: Getty

When asked whether his bets affected his performance in any of the three games, Stephenson replied: “Not at all.

“I didn’t think about them when I was out there.

“Obviously after I’d finished and we’d had our meeting with Bucks (coach Nathan Buckley) I’d have a look at my phone and go whoever it was didn’t hit what it was, I suppose.”

The 2018 Rising Star winner said it all started with a bet while “sitting on the couch with a mate.”

“At the time obviously I didn’t think about the bigger picture and the long term consequences,” Stephenson said.

“Impacting on the integrity of the game I now realise is just not acceptable and I hope others can learn from my mistakes.

“After the third one (bet) I thought this was actually accumulating to something that could be a lot bigger and I just got a really guilty conscience.

“I spoke to Walshy (Magpies football manager Geoff Walsh) to seek out his advice and I said ‘I have made a mistake here. I’m really guilty and I regret it. What can I do from here?’

“He said we’d take it to the AFL and I was pretty happy with that.”

Stephenson denied ever betting on any other AFL games, and said his gambling was otherwise restricted to a few wagers on the horses during the Melbourne spring carnival.

Stephenson trained with his teammates before fronting the media.

He said the enormity of the suspension had already sunk in and it made him more determined to feature in Collingwood’s September campaign.

“10 weeks is a long time and I can come back and play the first week of finals but I hope the team’s going well there,” he said.

“It will be a tough spot to get back to in the end.

“It could end up being a 14-week penalty, but I know in the 10 weeks I’ll be out I’ll be working hard on the track and doing everything I can to prepare myself to play again.”

Stephenson has apologised to his club and its fans, saying he had been “incredibly stupid”.

“I’m devastated that I won’t be able to pull on a Collingwood jumper for the next 10 weeks … what is important is what I do next,” Stephenson said.

Stephenson revealed he had been “oblivious” to the bigger picture.

“It was an incredibly stupid thing to do and I now realise the seriousness of what I’ve done,” he said.

“I want to issue an unreserved apology. Impacting on the integrity of the game, I now realise, is just not acceptable.”