Weight: 84kg
Preferred foot: Right
Role: Midfield/HFF/Wing
Potential: 6.5-7.5/10
Strengths
> Good all-round ball winning skills– 18.6dpg at 2009 U18 Championships level, 25dpg at 2009 TAC Cup level – he can play both inside (get 1st hands quite frequently) and out, but I don’t think he stands out at either (mainly due to his middle of the road decision making and disposal) – he will most likely become a genuine workhorse hard ball getter with no frills or possibly even a big bodied defensive midfielder that can get the ball ala Ling (this would be the role he should be developed in IMO)
> Very strong, well balanced and keeps his feet well - rarely brought down in a tackle
> Good height for a midfielder/flanker and strong body – large, lean build for an U18 – definite AFL ready (if fit) next season
> Good level of production and consistency both throughout a game and game by game – has the ability to step it up in the bigger games/rise to the occassion
> Good overall work-rate in both directions – is a ferocious tackler that will ground opponents in close, but doesn’t possess the pace to run down players – I think he has good running capacity when at full fitness
> Reports suggest he has very good leadership potential
Weaknesses
> Pace-wise off the mark he seemed a bit below average off the mark (at full fitness possibly OK?) at the championships but over distance he was OK – doesn’t seem to possess any significant evasive ability
> Overall disposal seems to be somewhat lacking in hurt factor (compared to other top prospects at least) and doesn’t possess any above average decision making ability
Other
> He is an OK kick – at his best he can get good power and decent penetration behind the ball – although watching his U18 Championships games on tape it seems his current technique could be tightened up a bit – I’m not sure maximise his extension through the footy – he does lack hurt factor with his passing due to his somewhat high trajectory kicking, modest decision making (tends to go long and straight to contests too often) and having only a reasonable accuracy and reliability at best
> He is an OK DM at best, but in no way creative/damaging or very reliable- inside traffic he doesn’t seem to possess great vision to open up the play as you would want from a midfielder without pace or evasive ability, outside traffic he seems to play mainly in straight lines - on occasions he can be caught out for lack of quickness (doesn’t seem to have sharp reflexes)
> 2008 TAC Cup TOTY Wing
> Fairly clean handling without being exceptional
> Played 2 U18 championships (2008 and 2009) –S 3 games in 2008 (averaged 8 disposals), all games in 2009
> 2009 AIS-AFL U17 captain
> Diagnosed with OP late in 2009
Stats
2007, 2008 and 2009 TAC Cup Stats
Overall
Stevens is an old fashioned, no-nonsense footballer that plays a team orientated brand of footy with a good-very good level of production and consistency – he should be able to impact immediately (when properly fit and available – as he is suffering OP at present) early in his career. I liked his AIS game vs Peel a lot, but apart from that he hasn’t stood out to me as a strong first round calibre prospect - maybe I haven’t seen enough of him at his best... I think at worst he would be on the fringes in a good team, at best he could be a top 150 AFL player as a workhorse clearance and/or defensive midfielder. I think he’ll be a late 1st round to mid 2nd rounder.
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