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Footy star on $500,000 a year quits because he's lost his passion for the game aged just 25 - and fans are all pointing the finger of blame in the same direction Young player bolted out of the blocks in debut season Is a previous Rising Star Award winner Has fallen out of love with the game and will retire immediately By Josh Alston For Daily Mail Australia and Anna Harrington For Australian Associated Press Published: 23:09, 28 October 2024 | Updated: 23:09, 28 October 2024 e-mail View comments Controversial North Melbourne forward Jaidyn Stephenson is set to retire from the AFL at just 25 with a year left on his contract after falling out of love with the game. Stephenson was contracted for the 2025 season but is expected to step away immediately. The forward/midfielder has spent the past four seasons at North Melbourne after starting his career at Collingwood.
There were times in 2018 when it felt Collingwood’s entire forward structure was built around Jaidyn Stephenson’s blistering pace. His footy smarts can’t be understated, either. How many players do that to Steven May one-on-one? 38 goals in his debut season https://t.
co/iSkL8MOvni pic.twitter.com/BlBwYWvvYf — Mitch Cleary (@cleary_mitch) October 28, 2024 Stephenson was a highly-rated junior footballer who was drafted to the Magpies with pick No.
6 in the 2017 AFL draft. Collingwood has initially been reluctant to pick the young star because of a genetic heart issue that came up in medical testing, only decided to recruit him at the 11th hour before the draft. However the speedster repaid their faith almost immediately, kicking 38 goals in his first season, winning the Rising Star as the Magpies reached a grand final.
From there, Stephenson was expected to kick on and become a genuine star. But things went awry in 2019, when his season was ended early by a 10-game suspension for placing bets on Collingwood games with which he was involved. Jaidyn Stephenson struggled for form after leaving Collingwood and joining North Melbourne While the young forward was all smiles off the field, he was battling to find his love of the game on it Two of the seven bets he placed were centred around his own game, including kicking a goal and also kicking three goals or more in a match.
He was suspended for the last 10 games of the season and also fined $20,000. Stephenson was traded to North Melbourne at the end of the 2020 season amid Collingwood's attempt to clear salary cap space and ended with 76 goals in 54 games for the Magpies. He joined the Kangaroos on a five-year deal but has been on the decline ever since, shunted between AFL and VFL and becoming embroiled in a series of off-field incidents.
And footy fans have pointed the finger at Collingwood dumping the young star which relegated him to the bottom four Kangaroos as the moment it all started to go wrong. 'Great talent but he was nowhere near his best once he left Collingwood,' one footy fan posted. 'Playing for North Melbourne would be pretty depressing,' added another.
'He was played out of position for multiple years, in a team which clearly didn't want him,' fumed a Kangaroos supporter. 'Pushed out without doubt, was never going to get another game,' suggested another. The former Rising Star Award winner found himself in and out of a battling North Melbourne side A series of off-field controversies also punctuated his career and led to a lengthy suspension and fine In 2021, Stephenson broke his hip after he fell off his mountain bike in his backyard, having attempted to perform a trick after drinking at home with housemates while under the influence of alcohol.
That led to a fractured hip and subsequent hospitalisation, with the young star saying it was the most painful experience of his life. 'It's definitely something I regret, not only the embarrassment of it, but the sheer pain I was in for the next week or two was just excruciating and the worst pain I've ever been in,' he said at the time. Additionally, Stephenson faced backlash for publicly expressing skepticism about the severity of COVID and questioning the necessity of vaccinations.
He ultimately played 68 games for North, kicking 54 goals - including eight majors in 12 games this year. Stephenson will step away from the game immediately and not play for the Roos in 2025 Former Collingwood star Dale Thomas hopes that Stephenson finds his passion for the game again in the future Brownlow Medal winner Adam Cooney said Stephenson's retirement was a 'waste of talent'. '100 per cent waste of talent.
He played seven years. His best year was his first year clearly,' Cooney told SEN's Sportsday. 'He kicked 38 goals in his first year and burst onto the scene and he was only slight of frame but had some speed and took the game on.
'I think the off-field issues that put the biggest dint in his confidence. He had that boozy bike crash accident. That would have affected him.
'He might be a victim of the expectation once a young player bursts onto the scene, the expectation rises from there and he just wasn't able to meet that.' Former Magpie Dale Thomas said he hopes the former Magpie finds his passion again and returns to the game. 'The way he's been much maligned by not only ex-supporters of Collingwood, the media and supporters of North Melbourne at times.
..no doubt he'll have a think about it and find that spark again,' Thomas said on Triple M.
'Because at 25, he's got plenty more good footy.' North Melbourne has been contacted for comment. AFL Share or comment on this article: Footy star on $500,000 a year quits because he's lost his passion for the game aged just 25 - and fans are all pointing the finger of blame in the same direction e-mail Add comment.
