AFL trades: Jaidyn Stephenson, Adam Treloar and Tom Phillips leave the Magpies
Jaidyn Stephenson has revealed the fallout of his exit from Collingwood and says he can’t wait for the first time he faces the Magpies with North Melbourne.
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Jaidyn Stephenson has a point to prove.
The North Melbourne recruit has admitted that his exit from Collingwood last week — when he was traded to Arden Street along with Atu Bosenavulagi and pick 39 in exchange for picks 26, 33 and 70 — has only spurred him to perform, particularly against his former side.
“It’s certainly put a little chip on my shoulder and (provided) a lot of motivation to get out there and work hard and put my best foot forward here at North,” Stephenson said.
“I’m really looking forward to the time that comes when we get to play Collingwood.”
He said he had spoken further with former coach Nathan Buckley to “clear the air and everything’s all good now”.
“We both had no hard feelings toward each other,” he said.
“I’m sure I’ll run into Bucks down the road and I’ll sit down and have a chat, have a beer, whatever it goes.”
Buckley spoke for the first time since the trade period on Monday, and was adamant that Stephenson had been informed of the club’s plans.
But the forward conceded that there had been a difference in their respective interpretation of the message he had been delivered throughout the season.
“I think there’s a difference between ‘what you need to work on’ and being traded,” Stephenson said.
“I didn’t have any indication, that’s how I felt, unless the dialogue between us wasn’t clear enough both ways.
“But it’s all right, it’s turned out well for me in the end. I’ve ended up here at North.”
Stephenson earlier revealed he shared an “honest” late night phone call with Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley following his shock exit from the Magpies.
The gun forward said he was not bitter with his former club and bears no grudges after speaking to Buckley following the end of a turbocharged trade period on Thursday night.
“I spoke to Bucks last night after all was said and done, at about 9pm,” Stephenson told the Herald Sun.
“We just spoke and spoke very honestly with each other and we both have no hard feelings.
“I understand the position he’s in and I think at the end of the day it’s probably the right thing for me to get a fresh start and hopefully grow something good at North Melbourne.”
When asked if Buckley had properly explained the reasons for his departure, Stephenson replied: “I’m just going to keep that between us, but it was a good chat for me to have and I respect him for calling me and I’m glad we had it.”
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Magpies football boss Geoff Walsh on Friday disputed Stephenson’s claims he was blindsided by the decision to trade him for a second-round pick.
Walsh told Triple M Stephenson had been spoken to on a “number of occasions” in a bid to regain his form of 2018, when he won the Rising Star award and kicked 38 goals.
Later on Friday Stephenson declared he stood by what he had previously said.
“Everything I said was just the truth,” he said.
“Obviously, throughout the year I got told about things I needed to work on and we went through those, but there was never a mention of a trade until the week before (the trade period) when my manager told me.
“They’re two very different things (being told to improve and being told you’re on the trade table) and they’re not something you’d get mixed up, that’s for sure.
“I’m not bitter, I obviously understand it’s a business and they think their future would be better without me.
“I still get to play footy at the highest level and I get to be at another good club, but I’ll certainly miss the relationships I’ve made.”
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The 21-year-old forward said he was excited to be joining the Kangaroos three years after first believing he’d land at Arden St.
“I actually went through my whole draft year in 2017 thinking North were going to take me, so it’s almost like being where I’m supposed to,” he said.
“They had pick 4 in the draft and I trained there as a 17-year-old for two weeks through the AIS.
“I thought I’d trained all right and I got along with all the boys, so I thought I was a good chance.
“In the end they got Luke Davies-Uniacke, who’s a great player, but it’s good to finally get there, I suppose.
“They’ve got a good bunch of 10 to 15 young guys who are all very good players in the making from Tarryn Thomas, Curtis Taylor, Jy Simpkin, Luke, the list goes on.
“And they’ve obviously still got those senior boys like Jack Ziebell, Todd Goldstein and Robbie Tarrant that can instil their wisdom in us and hopefully we can grow as a group of guys and have success sooner rather than later.”
Stephenson had a down year in 2020, but he has been seeing a personal trainer and said he was determined to get back to his deadly best.
“I missed all the pre-season with glandular fever, which wasn’t an ideal start, and then getting shipped off to a hub didn’t help my cause,” he said.
“I’m very motivated, and I think being told you’re not wanted at a club just gives you extra motivation and a little chip on your shoulder.”
Walsh also joined Collingwood list chief Ned Guy in rejecting talk of a “fire sale” after a dramatic finish to the AFL’s trade period in which the Magpies traded midfield star Adam Treloar against his wishes to the Western Bulldogs and Stephenson and Atu Bosenavulagi to the Kangaroos as part of a savage salary dump.
Treloar was traded to the kennel along with picks 26, 33 and 42 in exchange for the Dogs’ No. 14 pick and a future second-round selection. Collingwood wingman Tom Phillips was also handed to Hawthorn for pick 65.
Magpies coach Nathan Buckley tweeted on Thursday night: “My toughest day in footy … bar none.
“Managing contracted players who love the environment out of the club is a lose/lose situation in the short term.
“The decisions aren’t popular but they were necessary.
“I wish Adam, Jaidyn, Tom and Atu all the best at their new clubs.”
Stephenson said on Thursday he only received clarity on his future when he phoned Buckley and was told to find a new home.
“I heard nothing from the club then I gave Bucks a call myself … and he just said, ‘Look for a trade as aggressively as you want’,” Stephenson said on SEN.
“That was the only time I really spoke to anyone in administration at Collingwood.
“He (Buckley) just said he doesn’t know if I allowed myself to open up to the group, which I don’t necessarily agree with.
“But I’ll definitely be endearing myself to my new teammates and coaches if that’s what he thought my problem was.”
But Walsh said Stephenson had been given ample advice across the season about where his game was at.
“We don’t have any ill-will or ill-words that we want to speak about any of those boys and we wish them all the best,” Walsh said on Triple M.
“But I really can’t have Jaidyn’s comments be etched in history as the version of what he said. I’m not saying he’s been mischievous or anything.
“But certainly throughout the year on a number of occasions Jaidyn was spoken to by both teammates and coaches and administration on what he needed to do to get back to being the footballer that he briefly displayed in his first year, what he needed to do if he wanted to be a good quality AFL player and a good quality Collingwood AFL player.
“That was reinforced to him on a number of occasions. And then in the exit interview, which was only a day or so after he left, those points were all reinforced in terms of where we see his career at that particular moment.
“I cannot let that particular comment go and remain unanswered. That’s not me being particularly critical of the boy, but it certainly provided some balance.”
“He was certainly made well aware of where we (had) seen there were shortcomings, where (we had) seen there was room for improvement and that was from a cross-section of people that he would have been involved with at the club, including coaches and including teammates.”
Chief executive Mark Anderson backed up Walsh’s response.
“Did Jaidyn pick up the phone and talk to Nathan? Yes, he did. Was that the only form of communication given to him, no it wasn’t,” Anderson said on 3AW.
“Jaidyn was given feedback across the season, this didn’t come out of the blue in trade week.”
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It was still unclear on Thursday night what portion of Treloar’s salary the Magpies would continue to pay.
But the Pies say the aggressive moves will put them in a strong position to attack the free agency market next year where Essendon’s Zach Merrett and a key forward will be priority targets.
The last-minute Treloar deal would have been a considerable relief for the Magpies as it avoids the need to repair the broken relationship with the shattered onballer.
Treloar’s manager Tim Hazell said his client was disappointed “to get the tap on the shoulder”.
Collingwood has been heavily criticised for the way it handled the messy affair, with former Carlton list chief Stephen Silvagni saying the decisions could haunt the club next season.
Collingwood list chief Ned Guy on Thursday night said the Pies’ controversial moves was “not a fire sale”.
“We wanted to replenish the list,” Guy said.
“We think a couple of first round picks is pretty handy to get back into the draft.
“The salary cap issue is a bit of a beat up. We don’t think it is as bad as people have put out there.”
Walsh agreed claims of a salary dump had been overblown.
“I think that has been hugely exaggerated,” Walsh said.
“In essence, TPP, salary caps, they are the bane of every football program, every football administration because we want to pay our players as well as we can. We want to get as many good players into our program as we can and we want to observe the AFL rules and regulations on salary cap limits.
“Salary caps are always going to be an issue at the point end of footy programs, but to what I’ve read in the last 24-48s hours, the situation at Collingwood has been highly exaggerated.”
Stephenson, who received a five-year deal at North Melbourne on about $500,000 a season, said while he was excited about the next chapter at North, he was stung by the circumstances of his exit.
“To be told in a way you are not wanted, it does hurt,” he said.
Stephenson, 21, also said there were some things “he (Buckley) didn’t like as a footballer which is fair enough because I didn’t have a great year”.
Stephenson, small forward Bosenavulagi and pick 39 were traded to North Melbourne in return for picks 26, 33 and 70.
Silvagni said the Magpies needed to get on top of the matter quickly.
“If they don’t get off to a good start we are going to focus on this point and we are going to talk about their culture and we are going to talk about players being demoralised,” Silvagni said on Trade Radio.
Walsh said he could understand the emotion from Collingwood supporters after the loss of some club favourites, but said the club’s primary objective was to improve its list via the draft.
“I understand the immediate emotion because they are losing what they see as flesh and blood and replacing it with a (draft) number on a whiteboard,” Walsh said.
“One of our primary motivations was to get into the draft and get as close to the pointy end as we could and we think what we have ended up with is two first-round draft choices and we think this is a very good draft.
“The other thing we have managed to secure is a suite of future first or second-round picks as well, which if we elect to use those we can then get further into the pointy end of the draft this year.
“Our primary motivation is to improve the list and history says the best way of improving your list and the best way of solidifying and securing talent the talent is via the draft.”
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