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KOBY Stevens had already experienced the pain of missing the Western Bulldogs’ premiership surge.
Sidelined by debilitating groin tendinitis, he was dropped for the Dogs’ elimination final victory against West Coast and knew the writing was on the wall.
Then, as the last minutes of the trade period ticked down, he was in the US as his football future was being decided.
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Halfway through the year, if you asked me about leaving I would have said, ‘No’. But towards the second half of the year, I was pretty disappointed with the way things had been handled.
“I had tendinitis in my groin and lost a lot of fitness and wasn’t playing at the level I wanted to and negotiations stalled and I made the decision in my best interests. At the end of the day, I was pretty happy to make the move.
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I had talked to St Kilda a few years ago and the communication (with the Dogs) wasn’t the greatest and at the end I was pretty happy to make the move across,” he said.
“There was a contract on the table and I was ready to take that up and it wasn’t until I got injured the negotiations stalled.
“Everyone knows what a good young side St Kilda has got, it’s a little like the Dogs’ list of a couple of years ago, and I was inclined to move.
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Stevens says off-season rest has fixed his groin issues, the onballer bonding with teammates in New Zealand this week at a training camp full of adventure.
“It was pretty tough. We rocked up in New Zealand and weren’t told much, they kept everything quiet and we would just rock up at places to train,’’ he said.
“We rowed for five hours down a river and then had to hike 20km up a mountain. It was a tough experience but it was good for the young group and great for me coming in to meet new players.”
Who does he displace? Look I'm sure he can be a valuable addition, but these things need to be decided on merit ultimately. I'm not in favour of anyone grabbing a spot simply because he wasn't getting enough opportunities with the eventual premier.
bigcarl wrote:Who does he displace? Look I'm sure he can be a valuable addition, but these things need to be decided on merit ultimately. I'm not in favour of anyone grabbing a spot simply because he wasn't getting enough opportunities with the eventual premier.
Everyone has to earn his stripes.
It will depend out he trains and plays in the preseason obviously, but I see him forcing Minch out. I think Richo will want his bigger body for tackling and contested ball and the ability to spread that Stevens has. Too many times last year we got over run by bigger bodies where we couldn't halt their momentum. Hopefully his groin problem is fixed and we get the best of him. I've heard his disposal is a bit iffy.
It does start to get interesting with the likes of Stevens, Steele, Gresham, Acres, Sinclair, all pushing for midfield/onball spots. Dunstan needs to add some more outside game to his heavy work inside. Even someone like Newnes needs to keep developing his weaponry. I want to see Newnes become more damaging with the footy.
bigcarl wrote:Who does he displace? Look I'm sure he can be a valuable addition, but these things need to be decided on merit ultimately. I'm not in favour of anyone grabbing a spot simply because he wasn't getting enough opportunities with the eventual premier.
Everyone has to earn his stripes.
Club has a pretty impressive midfield menu on the table; it's a common saying that "competition improves the breed" so everyone has to bring their "A" game all the time, to retain their spots,
as any chinks in the armour will have a player consigned to Sandy.
Would the improved list result in more competitive effort against Crows and Weagles?
A real Sainter will pledge allegiance to the ❤ and despise the Pies, the Blues, and the Injectors.
Remember one of the 10 Commandments : Thou shalt have no other team before thee
and despise the Pies, the Blues, and the Injectors.