Geelong draftee George Stevens will provide something almost every other off-season recruit can't: coaching experience.
The South Warrnambool junior spent time helping coach the Roosters in the Hampden Football League last year while he was in recovery from an ACL injury.
Stevens sustained the lengthy setback in November 2021 and missed the entirety of his U17s season, with the Roosters adding the big-bodied midfielder to their coaching ranks.
By chance, Stevens would step into the senior coaching role for one game during the season, with the opportunity invaluable to his junior career.
While it came during a difficult year for the new Cat, Stevens said it's a chapter in his journey that he's cherished.
"I'm actually sort of glad I went through that," the new Cat told media on Thursday.
"I turned to coaching with my local club in South Warrnambool and was a line coach there. I got to head coach one game.
"As a young lad at 17 years of age, to say that I've been able to have that experience and learn probably more in not playing than what I might if I was playing.
"That's helped me into a really good stead. It's the gratitude to be back playing footy, each week I don't take it for granted. As bad as the year was, I think I was fortunate to go through that.
"It's not a record (coaching at 17 years old) that I planned to have. We'll tick that one off. Hopefully it doesn't get beaten."
Stevens was drafted to Geelong with 58th selection at this week's National Draft, having been forced to sit and watch close to four hours of selections take place before his name was eventually called.
While the teenager didn't expect to be picked up in the opening round, it didn't make the nerves on night two any easier.
"It was a crazy couple of days, I was pretty sure I wasn't going to go on the first night," Stevens said.
"I sat through all that, Nan and Pa had their eyes shutting at about 9:30pm looking to go to bed. I told them it'd be a bit sooner on the second night, that obviously wasn't the case.
"Looking back on it now that I'm here at the Cats, it was one of the best nights of my life, even though I hated it for two hours on the second night."
While he was a Saints fan growing up, Stevens has ties to the Cats after representing their VFL side on two occasions this year.
A Round 21 meeting against Collingwood strengthened his case ahead of the AFL Draft as he went on to collect a team-high 29 possessions against an experienced opposition.
The 189cm, 101kg built midfield-defender is viewed as one of the more ready-made prospects and could be a Round 1 chance for senior coach Chris Scott to consider.
Stevens knows there's work to be done before he's given the chance of an AFL debut, but credits the VFL experience and relationship with the Cats as a key stepping stone in his hopes of playing top level football.
"There's probably half of the first-to-fourth-year players that I've already played with, albeit only two games. But it was good training with the VFL (group) and touring the facilities," Stevens said.
"It makes me feel a lot more comfortable, hopefully that helps me settle in pretty quickly and then get going on the track.
"... I don't want to earmark too much, but I think that VFL game was a really big confidence booster.
"Particularly against Collingwood, the premiers of 2023, to play against their VFL side and play at a level I was happy with gave me a lot of confidence going into the back end of this year.
"Hopefully I get put into the right shape to perform at AFL level, that's ultimately the goal, that's what we're walking toward. There's confidence there having played senior footy already."
Stevens was one of seven players drafted to Geelong this week, with Connor O'Sullivan (Pick 11), Mitch Edwards (Pick 32), Shain Mannagh (Pick 36), Oliver Wiltshire (Pick 61) and Lawson Humphries (Pick 63) all taken at the National Draft, while former Hawk Emerson Jeka was recruited to the club via the Rookie Draft.
