Jaidyn Stephenson (born 15 January 1999) is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the North Melbourne Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL), having been initially drafted to the Collingwood Football Club.

AFL career

He was drafted by Collingwood with their first selection and sixth overall in the 2017 national draft. He made his debut in the 34-point loss to at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in the opening round of the 2018 season. His performance in the 48-point win against in round four of the 2018 season—in which he recorded thirteen disposals, five goals, four marks and three tackles—earned him the round nomination for the

AFL Rising Star The AFL Rising Star is an Australian rules football award presented annually to the player adjudged the best young player in the Australian Football League (AFL) for the year. It was first presented in the 1993 season, and was won by Nathan Buc ...

. Stephenson would go on to win the 2018

after a successful first season in which he kicked 38 goals, marking Collingwood's first win in that award category. That same season Stephenson played in the

2018 AFL Grand Final The 2018 AFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the West Coast Eagles and the Collingwood Football Club at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on 29 September 2018. It was the 123rd annual grand final of the Austral ...

kicking two goals in the first quarter, however Collingwood Football Club would ultimately lose by 5 points to the

West Coast Eagles The West Coast Eagles are a professional Australian rules football club based in Perth, Western Australia. The club was founded in 1986 as one of two expansion teams in the Australian Football League (AFL), then known as the Victorian Football L ...

. At the end of the

2020 AFL season The 2020 AFL season was the 124th season of the Australian Football League (AFL), the highest level senior men's Australian rules football competition in Australia, which was known as the Victorian Football League until 1989. The season feature ...

, he was put up for trade by Collingwood to alleviate their salary cap, and was traded to

North Melbourne North Melbourne is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, north-west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Melbourne local government area. North Melbourne recorded a population of 14,953 at ...

on the final day of trade period. Stephenson who was moved to the midfield in his first season with

in the 2021 AFL season was named to the 22under22 for the second and final time.

Controversies

In 2019, Stephenson was suspended for the final 10 games of the home and away season, following revelations that he placed bets on Collingwood games. There was also a $20,000 fine imposed. In July 2021, Stephenson had a career high 38 disposals in a Round 17 win against the West Coast Eagles. Days later, he faced strong criticism for sharing his views that

Covid-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

had been overblown by the media, and questioning vaccinations. In August 2021, Stephenson again came under fire by the media after being hospitalized from an accident on a mountain bike while drunk, which resulted in him fracturing his hip.

Personal life

As of May 2021, Stephenson was studying for a Bachelor of Commerce at

Deakin University Deakin University is a public university in Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1974, the university was named after Alfred Deakin, the second Prime Minister of Australia. Its main campuses are in Melbourne's Burwood suburb, Geelong Waurn Ponds, ...

. Stephenson attended St Joseph’s College, Ferntree Gully.

Statistics

:''Statistics are correct to finals week 3 2021'' , - style="background-color: #eaeaea" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the Unit ...

, , 35 , , 26 , , 38 , , 24 , , 205 , , 115 , , 320 , , 101 , , 75 , , 1.5 , , 0.9 , , 7.9 , , 4.4 , , 12.3 , , 3.9 , , 2.9 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

, , 1 , , 14 , , 24 , , 13 , , 158 , , 61 , , 219 , , 93 , , 29 , , 1.7 , , 0.9 , , 11.3 , , 4.4 , , 15.6 , , 6.6 , , 2.1 , - style="background-color: #eaeaea" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...

, , 1 , , 14 , , 14 , , 10 , , 85 , , 47 , , 132 , , 47 , , 25 , , 1.0 , , 0.7 , , 6.1 , , 3.4 , , 9.4 , , 3.4 , , 1.8 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...

, , 2 , , 19 , , 17 , , 19 , , 249 , , 119 , , 368 , , 109 , , 48 , , 0.9 , , 1.0 , , 13.1 , , 6.2, , 19.4 , , 5.7 , , 2.6 , - class="sortbottom" ! colspan=3, Career ! 62 ! 86 ! 56 ! 553 ! 272 ! 825 ! 284 ! 150 ! 1.3 ! 0.9 ! 8.9 ! 4.3 ! 13.3 ! 4.5 ! 2.4

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Stephenson, Jaidyn 1999 births Living people Collingwood Football Club players Eastern Ranges players Australian rules footballers from Victoria (Australia) AFL Rising Star winners North Melbourne Football Club players