Dylan Stephens is still in the thick of his first pre-season in red and white, but the Sydney Swans draftee is already a firm believer in the club’s culture.
Sydney recruited Stephens from SANFL club Norwood at the 2019 AFL Draft, swooping on the hard-running midfielder with its first pick five since Jarrad McVeigh in 2002.
It was during the 2002 pre-season at a camp in Coffs Harbour that the Paul Roos-led Swans established the Bloods culture, a code of behaviour built on relentless pressure at the contest, unwavering discipline and a never-say-die spirit.
While the set of standards would shape the Swans’ culture of the future, the use of the name ‘the Bloods’ reconnected the club with its past.
“The biggest thing that’s hit me is how strong the Bloods culture is, how much the players buy in to what’s going on at the club and how player-led it is. That’s been the most eye-opening thing for me,” Stephens told SEN SA.
“It’s good that it’s not just one captain leading the club. With Josh Kennedy, Luke Parker and Dane Rampe all leading the way, there are three very different personalities and it’s about who you find most approachable in tough situations.
“Those three boys are huge and they set the standards, but everyone’s buying in to the culture so I like to think all of us are playing a role.”
Sydney’s 2020 leadership group consists of co-captains Kennedy, Parker and Rampe, as well as decorated forward Lance Franklin and young gun Callum Mills.
It’s the first time in Franklin’s sparkling 300-game career with Hawthorn and Sydney that the 944-goal star has had a role on a leadership panel.
But Franklin, who was named captain of the star-studded 2018 All Australian team, has long been seen as a phenomenal unofficial leader.
Stephens laughed when asked on radio what Franklin is like, before heaping praise on the man coach John Longmire once dubbed “the teacher in the creche”.
“This is probably the number one question I get from my mates,” Stephens chuckled.
“He’s really good as a leader. This year is of course his first year in the leadership group and he’s trying to seek feedback on how he can become a better leader.
“He’s been great for (new draftee) Elijah Taylor; he looked after him over the first few weeks before Christmas and made him feel at home.”
Stephens kick-started the post-Christmas training block on a blistering note when he finished first in a two-kilometre time trial.
The 19-year-old then joined the rest of the squad for the first unofficial practice match of the pre-season at Lakeside Oval on Monday.
Less than two months stand between the Swans and their season-opening clash with the Adelaide Crows at Adelaide Oval – and Stephens’ sights are set on the campaign ahead.
“I haven’t really put a number on it but now that I have started to find my feet at training I would like to push for a spot in the senior side,” Stephens said.
“But at this stage I’m just trying to soak it all in and am doing what I can to put my best foot forward. We’ll wait and see and I’ll give it everything I’ve got.”
