Jack Steven was the subject of a lot of stories in the off season, first due to his move from St Kilda to Geelong and then an unfortunate stabbing incident. He suits up for his new club for the first time tonight, and they are in a bit of need of his kind of output in midfield with a few of their younger units struggling with injury. His fitness is the major question, not because of the wound but due to the long layoff.
Jack Steven was the subject of a lot of stories in the off season, first due to his move from St Kilda to Geelong and then an unfortunate stabbing incident. He suits up for his new club for the first time tonight, and they are in a bit of need of his kind of output in midfield with a few of their younger units struggling with injury. His fitness is the major question, not because of the wound but due to the long layoff.
Stuv on the move
Tim Kelly goes out and four-time St Kilda best and fairest winner Jack Steven comes in. On the surface it's a direct swap, however Steven's fitness levels need improvement after missing most of 2019 for personal reasons. At his best Stuv is a fantasy jet, with five 90+ and two 100+ seasons under his belt, though most of those big numbers came when he was playing central midfield and not the forward/mid role he has shifted to recently. He injured a calf in late January training. The club has been open about starting Steven forward and then shifting him to midfield as he gains fitness, meaning that if he gets over the soft tissue problems he will push Sam Menegola out of a roaming half-forward role. Or - not to be too cynical about it, but it is a factor - there's always the possibility of another randomly-timed mental health break. With one injury setback already, Steven is a big risk for what is likely to be a middle-round selection, as his upside is stellar but his downside is real.
Uneven Steven
Still St Kilda’s best midfielder, Jack Steven carries a heavy load. Carrying niggling injuries for two seasons, Steven has been good without quite reaching the heights of 2015 where he averaged 112 fantasy points. He is a constant target of attention from opposition taggers and has the occasional particularly poor game. The club announced that he would miss the JLT due to personal issues. With the St Kilda midfield maturing, Steven should benefit from a broader base of support. He is a safe middle-round pick who also comes with some upside, but it would take a Saint homer to reach for him in early rounds as his history of underperformance now stretches across multiple seasons. News of his off-field issues will depress his average draft position to the point where he becomes a high risk/reward pick.
Steven's war of attention
Leading a team in transition to a new brigade of midfielders, oppo analysts decided that putting the clamps on Jack Steven was the best policy if they were being serious about shutting down the Saints. Half a dozen tags later, he delivered his worst set of numbers for three years as he struggled at times to get free of congestion, even moving to half back at one point to shake it off. His marking and tackling have dropped off considerably from his 2016 peak. It's not as if Steven couldn't get the footy when he was tagged, it was that he couldn't break the lines nearly as easily. This eventually showed up in his fantasy scores, though perhaps a punctured lung early in the season can also be blamed. More respect should be shown to those around him as the St Kilda midfield matures, and perhaps taggers will go to Seb Ross in 2018. Steven is due a bounce back season and should drift up towards early rounds.
