Collingwood skipper Scott Pendlebury has revealed the advice he gave to out-of-form forward Jaidyn Stephenson during Monday night's loss to Port Adelaide.
Pendlebury was pictured with his teammate on the Magpies' bench, looking to give the 21-year-old some mid-game advice.
โI think he just turned the ball over,โ Pendlebury told SEN Breakfast.
โIt was really good; he was trying to put some speed on the game and I just wanted to reinforce to keep doing it.
โBecause in this game you are going to make mistakes and as young player you canโt go back into your shell, so I just encouraged him next time he got the ball to take them on again.
โHe was flat, he gave up a mistake where he thought we could have got out and scored a goal, but I just wanted to reinforce to stay out there, stay in the moment, and just keep taking the game on.โ
Pendlebury revealed that Stephenson is currently struggling to find his confidence.
โHe had an injury-interrupted pre-season, glandular fever and a few hiccups along the way,โ Pendlebury said.
โWhen he initially came back into the side, he was kicking goals and doing those types of things and then our ball movement and our scoring dried up and so did his opportunities.
โWeโre just trying to get him back in a confidence headspace. Like all young players, it only takes one week or a good performance and theyโre back on top of the world.
โSo weโve just got to get him in that state of mind again.โ
Stephenson will remain under some pressure to make Nathan Buckley's side for the Magpies' elimination final against West Coast on October 3.
