Former AFL star Jaidyn Stephenson has opened up about the mental struggle that led to his shock retirement from professional footy aged just 25.
Stephenson was infamously banned for 10 games in 2019 after it emerged that he’d bet same-game multis on three Magpies matches he played in.
Speaking on the What Could’ve Been podcast, the ex-Collingwood and North Melbourne forward said winning just eight games across 68 appearances for the Kangaroos ruined his appetite for the game.
‘I had games where I had 24 (disposals) and kicked three, and then you come out of your game review, and I felt pretty flat,’ the 2018 AFL Rising Star winner said.
‘It was like, “I’ve done this wrong and I’ve done that wrong” – is it because we lost or is it actually what it is?
‘I don’t know, everything just seemed to be amplified, and I obviously didn’t deal with it well enough.
Former AFL star Jaidyn Stephenson (pictured with partner Emily Vincent) has opened up about why he retired from professional footy aged just 25
Stephenson (pictured with Collingwood stars Nick and Josh Daicos) was banned for 10 games in 2019 after it emerged he bet same–game multis on three Magpies matches he played in
Stephenson – who played in the 2018 grand final for the Magpies – now works as an apprentice refrigerator mechanic
‘Eventually I just didn’t want to be there — fell out of love with it, was over it. It was tough.’
The former No.6 draft pick, who spent four seasons at the Kangaroos after his three years at Collingwood, started to consider his future in the game at the end of his second year at Arden Street.
‘I had that off–season to think about things, and we’d won like four games in the two years I’d been there, I’d played every game, and I just thought, ‘Geez, this is a real drag’,’ he said.
‘I didn’t want to go back. ‘(But) I was like, I don’t really have a choice, I’m signed for two more years. ‘In the end it was just deflating.’
Stephenson – who played in the 2018 grand final for the Magpies – now works as an apprentice refrigerator mechanic.
He plays local footy for his junior club Ferntree Gully in the Eastern Football Netball League – and regrets not considering another AFL club before hanging up his boots.
‘(At the time) I thought I’m better off just getting out of the AFL bubble completely and just seeing how life is outside of that,’ he said.
‘Now I look back, it probably may have helped had I gone somewhere else.’
Stephenson also courted controversy when he stated in 2021 the Covid pandemic was overblown by the media.
He later apologised for his ‘ill-informed’ comments while hosting a Q and A session with footy fans on his Instagram account.