Coburg Lions coach Jamie Cassidy-McNamara said star forward Jaidyn Stephenson is playing well above VFL level, with an eight-goal haul in the last round of the season set to reignite interest from AFL clubs.
Stephenson signed with the Lions only days before the club's practice match after missing out on Port Adelaide's pre-season supplemental selection period (SSP) rookie listing following his pre-season trial.
But since joining the VFL standalone club, Cassidy-McNamara, who had previously worked with Stephenson at Collingwood shortly after he was drafted, was impressed with his buy-in and commitment to getting the best out of himself.
"I think he has aspirations (to play AFL football again), but I think the aspirations are more about trying to be the best version of himself. We did have a concern that if he wasn't drafted in the mid-season draft, he may go back to local (footy), but he franked those concerns really quickly," he told Zero Hanger.
"He'd done a fair bit of maturing since the last time I spoke to him five or six years ago. I reached out to him, saying, 'If you're still willing to put yourself out there and have a crack, I think we'd be a good environment for you'. And that was one or two days before a practice match, and walked into training that night.
"I think he's developed into a leader. I think he genuinely cares about his teammates and the football club. He works really hard. I think early on, he might have been just a really talented kid, whereas he really puts in the work now. It hasn't been easy on him. He's been travelling from work to Ferntree Gully to Coburg three nights a week for the past eight months.
"But he's done it without complaints. I think the fact that his family and partner are right behind him and helping him, it helps."
Stephenson's impressive year culminated in 49 goals from 18 matches, and he was a leading tackler inside 50 in the competition, applying immense pressure to the opposition.
Cassidy-McNamara noted the development in certain areas of the 27-year-old's game, which were not always evident during his time in the AFL.
"One thing is, durability is a really handy trait," he said.
"He's never injured, and he's always fit and available. I think he's had the most shots at goal in the VFL, and I think he has had the most tackles in the forward 50, which was certainly something he didn't do back when he was at AFL level.
"He's certainly above the level. I think he is an interesting case in that he's shown, has proven evidence that not only he is an AFL footballer, but he is a very, very good AFL footballer. So I think it's going to take a club who just has a need for a player like Jaidyn to get a chance.
"Whether or not they do is something we can't control, but I think he's put his best foot forward. He's answered any questions around his work rate or character. Any lingering perceptions. I think he's answered them pretty unequivocally."
Cassidy-McNamara spent six years at the Pies from 2014 to 2020, spending time across the skill acquisition and development space. He witnessed the rise and fall of Stephenson from the 2018 Rising Star to joining North Melbourne ahead of 2021.
"There's no handbook on how to deal with becoming an AFL Rising Star in the AFL's biggest club, in a season where they went from outside the finals to missing a premiership by a goal. I think he handled that first season really well. He clearly made a few errors," he explained.
"But the person I have gotten to know this year has been fantastic. The way he's presented himself has been first-class. I think the character to put himself out there and make himself vulnerable has been really impressive."
