Kangaroos Head of Player Personnel Scott Clayton has revealed that Jaidyn Stephenson could be moved into the centre of the park for the 2021 season.
Stephenson, who did play in midfield during his TAC Cup days, could be shifted into the middle to utilise his talents more effectively.
“I’d like to see him in the midfield as an inside-outside midfielder with some wing and stuff.
“Clearly there’s always the draw to take him forward because he’s so dangerous.
“Clearly the new coach will have a lot to do with that, but I think he’s flexible enough and multi-task players, with list sizes and stuff, are becoming more valuable.
“We’ve all seen it in the talent pathway (Stephenson as an inside midfielder). No doubt contested footy, running it out, I think he could."
Stephenson had a lacklustre 2020 season, booting just 14 goals in a forward-line that failed to click for large parts of the year.
But Clayton is confident that they've gotten the right man for the job and is a firm believer that he will only travel upwards in 2021.
“Clearly, we’ve known Jaidyn for some time, I remember back to his 18th year and he was playing as an inside midfielder and the two best mids in the TAC Cup were him and Luke Davies-Uniacke...
“When the opportunity arose you’ve got to be agile and flexible enough in list management – no one prepared for this four months ago – but when it happens you’ve got to be agile enough to jump and we did.
“We’ve been nothing but impressed with the conviction from him. He’s got a personal trainer and the talking’s stopped now and I’m sure he’s going to have a great career ahead of him."
