SACKED podcast: Jaidyn Stephenson on Collingwood, North Melbourne and being known as a ratbag

Stephenson feared he was on the scrap heap at the end of that Covid-interrupted 2020 season, but instead of consoling words, the Magpies’ hierarchy stopped taking his calls.

Finally, the 21-year-old forward picked up the phone to call Nathan Buckley, the man who had backed him through a form slump, a betting ban that cost him half a season and a challenging period in the hub.

Buckley immediately took his call but delivered the sledgehammer message – at least delivered with sensitivity – that had been forced upon the Collingwood coach by the club’s exploding salary cap woes.

Stephenson was told he would either be traded or going to be playing “in the twos” if he resisted a move.

“I rang Bucks,” Stephenson told the Sacked podcast.

“(My question to him) was along the lines of, ‘Do you value me? Do you want me here? “What would be the go next year if I stayed?’ He pretty much said: ‘It’s going to be hard’.

“Basically, he said … ‘you may spend a lot of time in the twos or whatever it may be’.

“So obviously my own head thought ‘no, I won’t … if I’m there and I’m playing well, you will pick me in the ones.’

“But at the end of the day you want to go somewhere where you are valued and wanted. And that was North Melbourne at that moment in time.”

Five years on from the most explosive salary dump in footy history, when the Pies jettisoned four players to rebalance the books, Stephenson doesn’t blame the club.

He still had three years to run on a lucrative contract understood to hit $675,000 in his final season.

“I would have traded myself … if I’m running the business,” a candid Stephenson said.

“Collingwood … made the right decision and I can sit here (now) and deal with it. I know that it’s not personal. It’s just a business and that’s how it works.

“I was getting paid a really good salary and obviously what I produced the year before (in 2020) on the field … I would have got rid of me, too.”

Stephenson’s career with Collingwood blazed like a comet before fizzling out after 54 games and 76 goals, with half of those majors coming in his Rising Star 2018 debut season.

Now 26, and working as airconditioning mechanic, while playing local footy with his junior club Ferntree Gully, Stephenson is captivating company.

He is aware of his failings as a footballer, and deeply considered about how those failings formed the public perception of him.

He is as different to that perception of another boorish footballer as you could imagine but also aware of his own role in that persona.

“That’s the funniest thing for me in terms of image. I made these stupid mistakes. The gambling, the bike (accident), I come across as a bit of a rat bag, which I don’t believe I am.

“I have always been interested in learning and increasing my knowledge. I always love my problem solving so to come across as a ratbag or another stupid idiot footballer, it’s always amused me, but I think I have sort of done this to myself,” he said.

“People who know me say you are one of the smarter people we know so it’s always humoured me, but I have sort of done it to myself.”

YOUNG AT HEART

Stephenson was the carefree kid from Eastern Ranges via Ferntree Gully, leaving AFL scouts frothing at the mouth as a potential No. 1 draft pick.

It seemed assured he would go in the top five … until routine heart tests during testing at the 2017 draft combine produced an abnormal result.

All of a sudden, in literally a heartbeat, Stephenson’s draft prospects hung in the balance and left recruiters wondering if the risk of picking him was a bridge too far.

“At the same time they (recruiters) were finding out, I was finding out,” Stephenson said. “It’s not something I always knew about.

“It was picked up through draft testing. It was a bit of a whirlwind for everyone and a shock, especially for mum (Raquel).

“It’s genetic. So mum has it. She’s obviously passed it down to my sister and I. So it was a bit of a tough time sort of navigating through all that, starting on new medication, what the effects of these medications were going to have on aerobic capacity … all that sort of stuff.”

Some clubs immediately drew a line through recruiting the 17-year-old after it was revealed he had been diagnosed with Long QT, which causes fast, erratic heartbeats, potentially leading to fainting and seizures.

“I got sent off to a general cardiologist and they did lots of tests and they thought it was a lot worse than it was. Then I got in touch with a sports cardiologist and she was able to … show that the risk wasn’t as bad as we may have thought.”

Stephenson and friends booked a cruise that landed back in Sydney on the day of the draft to ease the tension, as he and his family feared he could slide down the draft order.

“I’ve spoken to mum about it and she was very worried that I wouldn’t get drafted because of it,” he said. “I always had the confidence that I’d shown enough in the last two years that someone would surely take a risk on me at pick 60 or 70 or even in the rookie.”

Collingwood had done its research on him and got board clearance to select him at pick six.

LOCK IT IN EDDIE

Stephenson grew up as a Brisbane supporter, but his mother’s family all barracked for Collingwood.

One of his childhood rituals was watching Eddie McGuire’s Millionaire Hot Seat with his Nan.

“Eddie was one of the first people I met on the way (to Collingwood) and I was a Hot Seat fan,” he said. “I was four or five years old, and I’ve always been a bit of a sponge for education and learning. The general knowledge I’ve got in my head that’s just useless is well and truly there.

“We used to sit there … (I used to say) ‘Nan, can you give me the Eddie McGuire questions?’”

His Nan, for reasons he still isn’t sure about, not only gatecrashed Buckley’s wedding, but she had a photo taken with the groom on the day, which used to sit in her lounge room.

Stephenson met his new coach Buckley and couldn’t believe the Magpie superstars who he was about to start work with.

“It’s where your idols become your friends, not necessarily from day one, but you can tell it’s the start of a relationship. As a kid you look up to them … and you put them on a pedestal and then you get there and it’s just like the normal bloke at the local footy club.”

THE FIVE-GOAL HAUL THAT CHANGED IT ALL

Stephenson charged into his AFL career, beaming with confidence and without the “scar tissue” of pressure.

He debuted in round 1 and had 16 disposals and backed it up with 13 in game two before a quiet performance against Carlton in round 3 had the Collingwood assistant coaches wondering if he needed a spell.

Buckley overruled them and chose him to play in round 4 against Adelaide on his first road trip.

It was the game that changed his life.

“From conversations I’ve had with people after that, I think most of the coaches wanted to rest me or drop me that week. But Bucks … was the one who said ‘no, we’ll give him one more game’.”

It became the breakout game that launched his career with five goals in the Pies’ upset victory over the Crows.

“For me personally, it was that moment where I thought I do belong here and I can make a living from this.”

He thrived on the big occasions the following week on Anzac Day, and booting four goals on Queen’s Birthday.

“I’ve got a vivid memory of that first (Anzac Day) game. I ran down the wing and took a couple of bounces and I remember every step I took, my whole ears were just ringing and bouncing just from the noise and the anticipation and the excitement of the crowd.”

But there were challenges in that first AFL season, when moving out of home and racking up $28,000 on his UberEats account.

“I did try and cook but it was a lot easier getting it (meals) delivered,” he said.

“Greek food was my go-to a lot of the time. Obviously nights before games and big training (sessions), I’d order in some pasta.

“I certainly look back at that time and go ‘You’re an idiot’, but it was a trial by fire and it was all a part of me learning and growing up.”

He went on to kick 38 goals from 26 games in his debut season, a haul that would see him win the 2018 Rising Star award.

‘WHERE’S MY NORMIE?’

Collingwood staged one of the most stunning preliminary final upsets — inspired by Mason Cox’s heroics — in downing Richmond in 2018.

“We knew we matched up really well against them (Richmond). And we just went out there … and Mason Cox had (eight) contested marks. He took a big speccie over Trent (Cotchin). I was standing nearby at his feet. He takes the mark, looks at him on the ground and goes ‘This is my field, boy’ in his American accent. “

He knew the Pies would beat Richmond, but feared the Eagles had their measure – “We beat Richmond, Richmond beat West Coast and they (the Eagles) beat us.”

Stephenson kicked Collingwood’s second and third goals within 117 seconds during an extraordinary five-goal opening term blitz.

“Everything was just on instinct, I’m a 19-year-old kid … I think the first one was a left-foot snap … the second one I was able to just get a little nudge on Tommy Cole and use my speed and ran on,” he said.

“I kicked the second one and started thinking … ‘Where’s my Norm Smith Medal going?’ A little spot above my bed maybe. But it ended up not to be. I didn’t really do a whole lot after that unfortunately.

“It just wasn’t our day. We did a lot right but before Dom Sheed kicked that (matchwinning) goal they’d kicked three or four points in a row.”

West Coast ran down the Magpies in the dying moments, with Sheed’s pinpoint goal at the 28-minute-mark of the final lifting the Eagles to a stunning premiership off the back of a perfect passage of play started by a towering mark from Jeremy McGovern.

Stephenson wonders if it might have been different if Adam Treloar’s kick had been aimed at De Goey, who was out the back, instead of shooting for Brody Mihocek, who McGovern intercepted.

“Looking back on the footage, it’s probably the kick … (Treloar) tried to hit Mihocek going back with the flight … Just kick it to Jordy … Just kick it to him one-on-one and it gets deeper into our forward line, and maybe we get a stoppage.

“At the end of the day we lost by five points and 22 West Coast were premiership players and fortunately a lot of those Collingwood players who played in that one went on to win a premiership (2023), which is awesome for them.”

Stephenson wasn’t one of them, having been traded to North Melbourne, but he feels nothing but joy for his former teammates who were a part of the Pies’ flag success.

WHY BUCKS BACKED HIM IN … TWICE

Stephenson says he started his second AFL season ever better than his first, kicking 21 goals from his first 12 games in 2019.

But his momentum was shattered by a 10-game betting ban (with 12 matches suspensions) he copped for placing three multi bets totalling $36.

It cost him $70,000 – a $20,000 fine and 10 match payments at $5000.

The ban ruled him out of AFL football until the final series, but his coach made it clear to him that if he did the work, he would be back for the Pies’ first final.

He kicked a goal and had 18 disposals in the Pies’ qualifying final win over the Cats, then kicked two goals in the heartbreaking four-point loss to the Giants.

“I really think if we had made it through to the 2019 grand final, it would have been against Richmond, and I think we had their number.”

The Covid pandemic sweeping the world shut down the 2020 AFL season and when the season resumed in June, clubs were shunted into hubs.

“We got shipped off to the hub and they (said) you might be there for … 30 or 35 days and 105 days later I was coming home,” he said.

“(The) people that lived and breathed football and didn’t have a lot going on outside football, I think they ate it up.

“But for a lot of others, me included, that interaction with friends, missing seeing your family, and the things that I really missed contributed to (me) not enjoying my time up in the hub.”

He was under selection pressure for form – and attitude – reasons, but when it mattered his coach backed him in one last time, picking him for a thrilling away win against West Coast and a semi-final mauling at the hands of Geelong in 2020.

“Leading into that (first) final, I hadn’t been playing great and we would play cards of a night-time, and Bucks came over and said: ‘Stevo, let’s have a chat’. This is two days before the West Coast final. I thought ‘Yeah I’m getting dropped here … this is not looking good’.

“He … goes: ‘Stevo, you know your form might not warrant selection, but I’m going to sleep a whole lot better if I pick you and we lose than if I don’t pick you and we lose’.”

He had 10 disposals in the one-point win over the Eagles, but struggled with only a goal and three disposals in the loss to Geelong.

It would be his 54th – and final – game for the Pies.

A few months later he dialled Buckley’s number into his phone leading into the trade period, and found out his cards had been marked by the Pies’ salary cap woes … and North Melbourne beckoned.

TOMORROW: “I had a few drinks and decided I was a good BMX rider.” Stevo on his North Melbourne slip-up

Originally published as SACKED podcast: Jaidyn Stephenson on Collingwood, North Melbourne and being known as a ratbag