Cornes would be “staggered” if Stephenson wins Port list spot

Port Adelaide coach Josh Carr has given some reasoning as to why Jaidyn Stephenson will be given an opportunity to train with his side during the summer.

Having been announced as the successor to Ken Hinkley earlier in the year, the 2004 Premiership player has officially taken the reins as he gears up for his first season in charge.

And looking ahead to his first pre-season, he has decided to give the former Collingwood and North Melbourne man an opportunity to train with the Power with the potential that he could be added to their list as SSP selection for the 2026 season.

While Stephenson announced his retirement from AFL football in 2024 after playing 122 games for the two clubs, which saw a return of 130 goals, it appears that the desire to play at the top level has returned after 12 months away.

Having been asked on SEN SA’s The Run Home as to why Stephenson will be joining their pre-season, Carr believes that it would be silly not to consider him, given the form he has shown at an AFL level.

“From my point of view, we haven’t guaranteed Jaidyn any position on our list,” Carr said.

“He’s obviously got to get through the draft, but post-draft, we have guaranteed that he can come and train with us over the summer.

“I think we would be silly not to look at it. He’s a talented young player; he kicked something like 40 goals in his first year at Collingwood.

“He’s had his struggles but we’ve got some people at the footy club that know him really well and he’s matured and from my point of view we make a judgement at the end of pre-season just as we will for any other player that trains on in the pre-season and we’ll pick the best player that’s going to help us as a football club.”

While Carr thinks the club would be silly to not look at Stephenson, his 2004 premiership teammate Kane Cornes isn't of the same view.

Although Cornes wouldn't look at Stephenson himself, it's obviously a low-risk move for the Port to offer the former Pie and Roo a training spot, with Cornes simply not expecting him to eventually win a list spot.

“‘Silly not to look at it’, is not a phrase I would have used, but I’m not going to be super critical of it,” Cornes said on SEN Breakfast.

“It’s low risk, to have a player come and train with you, you're not giving up anything.

“This sounds silly, but often you're looking for numbers on the training track to make sure that you can fill two sides to play against each other in the summer if you're doing match play. He can play that role.

“I would be staggered if he ended up on Port Adelaide's list, but it's low risk.”

Cornes also thinks that this is a sign that Stephenson regrets 'wasting his talent', with the former Rising Star winner never improving from his first season before stepping away from footy

“This is why we get so frustrated by players who seemingly waste their talent,” Cornes said.

“Don't waste your talent right now, because in 10 or 20 years, you’re going to regret it.

“Clearly, Jaidyn Stephenson is regretting his decision not to maximise the talent that we all saw from him.

“He never worked on his contest, he’s a poor contest player, and we're not expecting everyone to be Zak Butters, but when the footy is there at this level, you need to be able to win the ball in the contest.

“He was far too meek in the contest, and in the end, he got found out.”

Despite stepping away from AFL football in 2025, Stephenson has remained fit, having played for his junior side in the Ferntree Gully Eagles, who play in Division 3 of the EFNL.

In the 18 games that he played, he kicked 38 goals.

Port Adelaide will likely confirm their full complement of train-on players following the AFL Draft.