Brownlow Medallist and Collingwood champion Dane Swan has outlined what his advice would be for suspended forward Jaidyn Stephenson.
Swan, no stranger to controversy, has urged the teenager to get out of Victoria for a few days.
Stephenson was suspended 10 games for placing multiple bets on Collingwood games and will sit out the remainder of the home-and-away season.
“If I was counselling him, I would’ve said try not to read it (the news) at all. Especially with mental health being a big thing in this day and age,” Swan told SEN Afternoons.
“I would’ve said, mate, and it probably would’ve been a bad look, but get away.
“Listen, you’re done for 10 weeks, go up north for four or five days, get some sun, refresh, go away with the mates and just think about what you’ve done and come back because we want you flying when everyone else is a bit niggly come finals.
“He’s going to learn an amazing lesson and you’d rather learn it with 15 years to go in your career.
“He’s a great young kid and he’ll definitely learn from this.
“Time moves on. Jordan de Goey from the drink driving last year, my stuff, everyone does stuff and like I said to Jordy when he rang me last year, if you come out and have an awesome finals campaign like he did, people move on.”
Swan added he was incredibly impressed with Stephenson’s decision to self-report.
“His heart would’ve dropped. I’ve been there clearly, not for that reason (gambling), but for different reasons, it’s a horrible feeling, especially having to front up to the boss,” he said.
“It’s a bit different when you’ve played 200 games and you’re an established player. He’s 19, so it’s taken some effort for him to go up because the easy thing to do – 90 per cent of players would’ve said I’m just going to cop it until I get caught, then I’ll deal with the consequences.
“It was awesome of him to go and do it.”
Nathan Buckley broke down what the plan is for Stephenson going forward on SEN’s Whateley.
“We now have a plan for him. Geoff Walsh, Nick Maxwell and Stephenson have sat down and mapped out a plan for him and it includes a few little breathers, but there’s a couple of heavy training blocks in there,” Buckley said.
“He’s going to help us prepare for our games weekly.”