Kangaroos star Jaidyn Stephenson has been heavily critical of the club during sacked coach David Noble – revealing the eye-watering sum he almost had to give up for his favorite song.
The 24-year-old exploded onto the footy scene after being called up in number 6 by Collingwood in 2017 and winning the Rising Star award in his first season.
But despite his prodigious ability, it’s been a roller coaster ever since, with the Magpies finally bringing him to North Melbourne in 2021.
After playing for arguably the biggest club in the league, Stephenson lasted two years under David Noble, with the team winning just five games out of 38 in that time.
The club continued to sink to new lows after a decade of horror, and Stephenson explosively laid the blame at the feet of Noble and his coaching team in a destructive spray.
Kangaroos star Jaidyn Stephenson has laid the blame for the club’s poor seasons in 2021 and 2022 at the feet of ex-coach David Noble and his staff in a devastating spray
Stephenson, pictured with Shane Warne’s son Jackson (left) and another friend (center) at the races, has revealed some explosive details about his roller coaster career
The 24-year-old (left, pictured after a win with (LR) then-teammates Jamie Elliott, Chris Mayne and Levi Greenwood) had a hugely successful start to his Collingwood career
“It’s difficult for a successful team, I had played eight finals in three years and a grand final; going to the bottom of the ladder is a big difference,” he told ex-AFL player Tom Sheridan on his podcast, Ausmerican aces.
“If you win, you can get away with anything.
“I started to lose my passion for footy…but Clarko (current coach Alastair Clarkson) has definitely brought it back because he rewards role players.
“In the last couple of years I was able to make 20 disposals and two goals, which is a fair game, but a key message in the review would be ‘(you need to) put more pressure on’.
So next week I’m going to be “pressurized, pressurized” and I’ll get 10 touches and no goals – and it’ll be “Stevo, what are you doing, you need to kick two goals”.
‘Too much happened. Each week there seemed to be something I was doing wrong or not doing, instead of looking at the things I was doing right.
“This year has been a huge change.”
North Melbourne, despite being 15th on the ladder, has improved somewhat this year under four-time premiership coach Clarkson; but players certainly seem to be playing with more luck and freedom – even if the results aren’t ideal.
It’s certainly been an up and down few years for Stephenson, who has often faced fierce criticism from the greats of the game and AFL pundits, including breaking his hip in 2021 in a drunken cycling accident.
But much of it started in 2019, when Stephenson’s footy world came crashing down after being suspended for 10 matches for betting on matches he played in.
Stephenson (centre, pictured with Magpies CEO Mark Anderson and general manager Geoff Walsh) issued a huge ban on betting on matches he had played in – saying he felt ‘things should have been handled differently’
He posted multis from the same game in three Magpies games, which only came to light after he made an offhand comment to then teammate Jeremy Howe about one of their teammates costing him a multi win.
The bets themselves cost only $36, but Stephenson admitted at the time he placed them because a friend of his “did the same thing” and that he would check the locker room scores immediately after a game to see if they won.
Stephenson still harbors some animosity from the whole affair and believes the situation “should have been handled differently” – though it’s not clear what part he disagrees with.
“The betting suspension was hard to accept,” he said of the 2019 affair.
“I stuffed it, but I think the situation could have been handled differently and perhaps not had the same consequences.”
At the time, many critics actually believed that a 10-game suspension was too light – with another suspended 12-game suspension set to take effect if he bet on AFL games again at any point in his career.
For example, several NFL players have been suspended for a full season and indefinitely for similar or lesser offenses than Stephenson.
The charismatic striker also revealed that he was almost forced to part with an eye-watering $10,000 just because he wore his favorite number 16 while with the Magpies.
The lightning fast striker made 54 appearances for Collingwood before being shipped off to the Kangaroos
Nick Daicos (left, pictured with brother Josh (right) and Stephenson) now owns the No. 35 jersey in tribute to his father
Traditionally, in honor of cult hero Simon Prestigiacomo for selflessly ruling the club out of the 2010 Grand Final, Collingwood’s first pick in each draft wears his old number, 35.
This included Stephenson, who wore it in his first year before passing it on to Isaac Quaynor.
Nick Daicos, the son of club legend Peter, will now stick to honoring his father – but all Stephenson was concerned about was the ex-teammate denying him the squad number he coveted.
‘I always had number 16 on my back growing up, for Jonathan Brown; loved him crazy Brisbane supporter,” said Stephenson.
And after obviously having my freshman year in 35, I knew I had to change numbers, and Chris Mayne was in 16.
“I said to Mayney, ‘Come on, mate, your career’s about to end, how about giving me 16, and you can just move to another number for your last few years?”.
“He (Mayne) says, ‘Stevo, if I see an envelope of $10,000 cash in my locker, you can have 16’.”
Stephenson (left) said ex-teammate Chris Mayne (right) wanted him to cough up $10,000 to get the No. 16 jersey from him
With gritted teeth, Stephenson thought it was just a little too steep for a track, and reluctantly chose no. 1 instead.
It’s unthinkable for many Aussies to imagine parting with so much money for a jersey number – but it’s actually fairly common in the NFL.
For example, ex-Bucaneers superstar Gerald McCoy had to spend $250,000 when he joined Carolina to get his favorite song. 93.
Stephenson then addressed a little drive-by to the Kangaroos fanbase – or lack thereof – when he discussed which song he’d chosen, with the idea of using the now-vanished song by Lions legend Johnathan Brown.
“When I moved north, they said, ‘You can keep your number 1 if you want,'” he explained.
“Obviously you don’t draw that much stuff when you’re in North, but when I was with Pies, (I was) drawing all the time… and the little 1, it’s so thick, so it’s so difficult to put a small signature on (the number).
So I went for the no. 2 (at North) and it’s allowed me to get big, huge signatures. That’s the thought process behind it.’
The Kangaroos star now wears the No. 2 jersey for the club
Stephenson, pictured with his partner Emily Vincent, is starting his own podcast so he can speak his mind
Stephenson is an interesting character who is never shy about speaking his mind – although he claimed his ability to do so as an AFL player is suppressed.
Stephenson, a supporter of the highly controversial podcast host Joe Rogan, has been inspired to start a podcast of his own so he can speak his mind.
“I’ve listened to a lot of Joe Rogan podcasts, your (Ausmerican Aces) podcast…as AFL football players get a lot of time off and I’ve struggled to find things to fill my time,” he said.
“As footy players, we generally have to hit straight on weekdays and you can’t really speak your mind… so getting out there and getting to know athletes to their inner core, rather than face value, is something that intrigues me.”
That said, when he expressed his view that the Covid pandemic was simply being exaggerated by the media and wasn’t a ‘big thing’, he sparked a firestorm of controversy as Australians grappled with a disease that has claimed more than 19,000 deaths in this country .
Stephenson and his Kangaroos teammates will try to turn around a stretch of very poor form this Sunday afternoon when they take on St Kilda at Marvel Stadium.