Dylan Stephens (born 8 January 2001) is an

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

er who plays for the

North Melbourne Football Club The North Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed the Kangaroos or colloquially the Roos, is a professional Australian rules football club. The men's team competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), and the women's team in the AFL Women's (AF ...

in the

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the pre-eminent professional sports, professional competition of Australian rules football. It was originally named the Victorian Football League (VFL) and was founded in 1896 as a breakaway competition ...

(AFL). He was initially recruited by the

Sydney Swans The Sydney Swans are a professional Australian rules football club based in Sydney, New South Wales. The men's team competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), and the women's team in the AFL Women's (AFLW). The Swans also field a Austral ...

with the fifth pick in the

2019 AFL draft The 2019 AFL draft consisted of the various periods where the 18 clubs in the Australian Football League (AFL) can trade and recruit players following the completion of the 2019 AFL season. Key dates Mid-season rookie draft The first mid ...

Early football

Stephens played junior football for his local club,

Red Cliffs Football Club Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to Orange (colour), orange and opposite Violet (color), violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–750 nanometres. It is a primary color in the ...

. He attended Red Cliffs Primary School and then

Red Cliffs Secondary College Red Cliffs Secondary College (RCSC) is a State school, public Mixed-sex education, co-educational Secondary school, high school in Red Cliffs, Victoria, Red Cliffs, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. It is the only Victorian state gover ...

. He later attended and played football for St Peter's College in

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

, while on a football scholarship. Stephens played for Norwood in the

SANFL The South Australian National Football League, or SANFL ( or ''S-A-N-F-L''), is an Australian rules football league based in the Australian state of South Australia. It is also the state's sports governing body, governing body for the sport. ...

for the 2019 season, where he played 13 games and kicked six goals. Stephens also represented South Australia in the

AFL Under 18 Championships The AFL National Championships is an annual Australian national underage representative Australian rules football tournament. Since taking over as national governing body in 1995, the AFL has gradually restructured the competition into a primar ...

, where he ended up winning the award for Most Valuable Player in the South Australian Side, as well as selection in the All-Australian Under 18 side.

AFL career

Stephens debuted in the Swans' eight point loss to the

Richmond Tigers The Richmond Football Club, nicknamed the Tigers or colloquially the Tiges, is a professional Australian rules football team competing in the Australian Football League (AFL). Founded in 1885 in the Melbourne suburb of Richmond, the club comp ...

in the 6th round 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 featur ...

, alongside teammate Chad Warner. On debut, Stephens collected 11 disposals, 5 marks and 4 tackles, and kicked a behind. Stephens was in and out of the Swans through 2021 and the first half of 2022, before a consistent run of games through 2022 including being included in the team for the

2022 AFL Grand Final The 2022 AFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football match contested between Geelong Football Club, Geelong and the Sydney Swans at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on 24 September 2022. It was the 127th AFL Grand Final, grand final of the Aust ...

. A contract extension signed in 2021 committed Stephens to the Swans until the end of

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

. Stephens played in the opening game of the 2023 season against the

Gold Coast Suns The Gold Coast Suns, officially the Gold Coast Football Club, are a professional Australian rules football club that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL). The club is based on Queensland's Gold Coast, Queensland, Gold Coast in the ...

, amassing 27 disposals. On 11 October 2023, Stephens was traded to .

Statistics

''Updated to the end of 2024''. , - ,

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

, , , , 3 , 8 , , 2 , , 3 , , 68 , , 32 , , 100 , , 27 , , 27 , , 0.2 , , 0.3 , , 8.5 , , 4.0 , , 12.5 , , 3.3 , , 3.3 , - ,

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

, , , , 3 , 7 , , 1 , , 1 , , 30 , , 29 , , 59 , , 20 , , 8 , , 0.1 , , 0.1 , , 4.2 , , 4.1 , , 8.4 , , 2.8 , , 1.1 , - ,

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

, , , , 3 , 15 , , 5 , , 2 , , 171 , , 67 , , 238 , , 63 , , 38 , , 0.3 , , 0.1 , , 11.4 , , 4.5 , , 15.9 , , 4.2 , , 2.5 , - ,

, , , , 3 , 13 , , 3 , , 3 , , 113 , , 63 , , 176 , , 37 , , 32 , , 0.2 , , 0.2 , , 8.7 , , 4.8 , , 13.5 , , 2.8 , , 2.5 , - ,

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

, , , , 15 , 16 , , 0 , , 1 , , 134 , , 70 , , 204 , , 43 , , 23 , , 0.0 , , 0.1 , , 8.4 , , 4.4 , , 12.8 , , 2.7 , , 1.4 , - class=sortbottom ! colspan=3 , Career ! 59 !! 11 !! 10 !! 516 !! 261 !! 777 !! 190 !! 128 !! 0.2 !! 0.2 !! 8.7 !! 4.4 !! 13.2 !! 3.2 !! 2.2 Notes

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Stephens, Dylan 2001 births Living people Sydney Swans players Australian rules footballers from Victoria (state) Norwood Football Club players Sportsmen from Victoria (state) People educated at St Peter's College, Adelaide North Melbourne Football Club players 21st-century Australian sportsmen