THE PRECOCIOUS Jaidyn Stephenson has made a habit of poking holes in opposition defences.

And the electrifying forward's 10-game suspension to the end of the home and away season – the major part of his penalty for betting on three AFL games involving Collingwood this year – will leave a sizeable hole in Collingwood's forward line, and perhaps also in its premiership quest.

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Stephenson is just 20 and in only his second AFL season, but the reigning NAB AFL Rising Star winner is already a high-performance machine who has become increasingly vital to the Magpies' fortunes.

His spot will probably be taken by midfielder/forward Josh Daicos for the clash with the Western Bulldogs at Marvel Stadium on Sunday, and the Pies hope the explosive, injury-prone Jamie Elliott will return to play Stephenson's deep forward role beyond that, with emerging superstar Jordan De Goey and the high-flying Will Hoskin-Elliott to provide some variation.

Will Hoskin-Elliott and Jaidyn Stephenson form part of Collingwood's potent attack. Picture: AFL Photos





Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley might even consider experimenting with three talls by recalling Ben Reid to work in tandem with Mason Cox and Brody Mihocek, although that appears highly unlikely.

But whatever the Pies decide, the fact is that the skinny, blond wunderkind in the No. 1 jumper is a unique player at the club – indeed, he's perhaps unique in the competition – and he might prove irreplaceable.

The raw statistics alone amplify both Stephenson's quality and his importance to the Magpies.

Over the past season-and-a-half – the extent of Stephenson's brief AFL career – only one Magpie has scored more goals than him, and that's the brilliant De Goey, who has 73 while Stephenson, admittedly from seven more games, has 59.

This season Stephenson is equal-sixth in the AFL for goal assists (13) and equal-15th in goals (21).

If we combine both goals and goal assists, Stephenson is equal-ninth in the AFL.

He's one of just six players to have scored goals in each of his past nine games this season.

The No.6 pick in the 2017 NAB AFL Draft has also displayed rare durability for a youngster with such a light build. Since making his AFL debut in the loss to Hawthorn in last year's season opener, he has played all 38 games. It has taken extraordinary circumstances to break that sequence.

Last year Stephenson became just the second player to notch 26 games in his debut season (the other was Collingwood’s 1990 premiership player Scott Russell), and the first to do it as a teenager playing in every week of a finals series.

Impressively for a player drafted as a midfielder/forward, Stephenson has been held goalless just 10 times in those 38 games.

And perhaps most exceptionally, when he scores the Pies are near certainties to win; and when he doesn't they tend to lose. As Channel Seven stats man Josh Kay tweeted, when Stephenson kicks at least one goal the Pies have a superb record of 24-4 (at a strike rate of 86 per cent) but when he's goalless they are just 2-8 (20 per cent).

W-L for Collingwood since start of 2018...



24-4 (85.7%) when Jaidyn Stephenson kicks a goal



2-8 (20.0%) when Jaidyn Stephenson is goalless — Joshua Kay (@js_kay) June 19, 2019

Intriguingly, the Woods appear most dangerous when Stephenson's lean 188cm frame is in the goalsquare. It's unorthodox but it also makes backmen decidedly jittery.

Earlier this season, with Elliott back after a season on the sidelines, Stephenson was pushed upfield in the early rounds and, consequently, the Pies' attack didn't function as well as it had last year when Stephenson, De Goey and their fellow 'Swoop Squad' members Will Hoskin-Elliott and Josh Thomas were causing chaos.

A return to his previous role as the deepest forward not only helped Stephenson rediscover his best form but added another layer of unpredictability to the Pies' front half.

Stephenson takes to the sky against Melbourne. Picture: AFL Photos





He can be a nightmare match-up one-out, given his speed (he's one of the few Pies blessed with this commodity), elusiveness, aerial ability, one-on-one smarts, goalsense and that touch of genius, whether it be to snap a goal from a half-chance, or to bomb one with a torpedo as he so casually during the final-quarter avalanche against St Kilda in round nine.

Stephenson was just peaking when he was suspended. In his most recent outing, during the Pies' win over Melbourne in the Queen's Birthday clash, he fired eight shots at goal and finished with 3.3 when he could easily have kicked a handful.

Commentator Brian Taylor dubbed him the "Spaceman", given his intelligent leading to space. This quality has helped Stephenson lead the Pies in both marks and marks inside 50 this year.

He also fires when the contest is hottest, often hitting the scoreboard early to set a troubling tone for opponents. Just as he did against the Demons, and as he did with two spine-tingling first-quarter goals in last year's Grand Final when he almost became an instant premiership player.

Will he get a chance to win a flag this year? Maybe. But his off-field brain fades certainly haven't helped his team's cause.

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