New North Melbourne recruit Dylan Stephens is looking forward to his first season at Arden Street.
The wingman joined the club from Sydney in the off-season. The Roos parted with a future end-of-first-round pick and pick 44 for Stephens who they received alongside pick 25.
Stephens, who is a former top-five pick himself, played 43 games for the Swans but appeared only 13 times in 2023 as he was often left to linger in the reserves.
Coming off playing in a Grand Final in 2022, Stephens was disappointed to be on the fringe in 2023 and he says being left out of the side led to his decision to move to the Kangaroos.
“I was pretty excited going into last season based on the year before,” Stephens told SEN Afternoons.
“We made a Grand Final (in 2022), and I played some pretty good footy.
“It just didn't really quite click, I was just kind of still on the fringe and I was kind of left out of the side.
“It was obviously a really good Swans side and I just felt that there wasn't really room for me in the side, especially on the wing.
“I was just left out of the side a lot and that was kind of what led me to North Melbourne and I'm looking for a better opportunity as well.
“It was a big factor in heading down here. It is what it is.”
Since joining North Melbourne, Stephens has wasted no time making an instant impact as he took out the 1.8km shuttle run on day one of pre-season on Monday.
Stephens says the club’s impressive Round 24 win over Gold Coast in Hobart helped convince him to push for a trade.
The 22-year-old is really optimistic about where the club is headed despite four straight bottom-two finishes.
“It was probably a tough decision at the time, but I put a lot of thought into it,” Stephens explained.
“But for me personally, I watched the last game of the year against Gold Coast when they won.
“I think just watching that in itself was a pretty big indication for me that the club's going in the right direction.
“There’s a lot of young talent in the first-to-four-year category that I really think can drive this club.
“You look at the top-end talent as well, I’m really optimistic about where this team can go.
“We're building and I think this year is going to be pretty exciting.”
Stephens will hope to make his North Melbourne debut when the club faces GWS at Giants Stadium in Round 1.