A meeting with St Kilda Coach Alan Richardson helped convince Koby Stevens that a sea change might be in the best interests of his career, advice that assisted the hard-working midfielder choose the Saints as his new home.
The 25-year-old, who was selected by West Coast one pick ahead of Jake Carlisle back in 2009, helps strengthen the Saints’ midfield depth, along with another off-season acquisition in Greater Western Sydney onballer Jack Steele.
Stevens played the opening six games of 2016 with the Western Bulldogs before the middle section of his year was disrupted due to injury. He returned in the latter part of the year, featured in Footscray's premiership, but didn’t play in the Dogs’ finals campaign.
“I had some really good discussions with Alan earlier in the year and just [liked] what he brought to the table. I thought it would be a really good new sea change for me and I’m looking forward to it,” Stevens told saints.com.au after landing in New Zealand.
“I think I can bring some more midfield depth – Jack Steele does that as well – and really create something special with this young group and help take this team to finals.”
A week into his time at Linen House Centre, Stevens sees plenty of similarities between St Kilda and his former homes and is excited by the diverse group at the club and the brand the Saints stand for.
“I’ve been at the club for a week now and it’s been really good. Obviously, football clubs are pretty good places; they’re all pretty much the same with just new faces and new names to know,” Stevens said.
“There’s a great group of guys here, all the young fellas are great and there’s an experienced older group so it’s been really good.
“The way they played last year was really exciting. I remember playing against the Saints early in the season and it was probably one of the hardest games I played in all year. I think with the talent this club has got we can go really far really quickly.”
Speaking to saints.com.au on the opening day of St Kilda’s pre-season camp in New Zealand, Stevens is expecting a tough week ahead but admits the opportunity to form relationships will be highly beneficial in the early stage of his transition.
“It’s been a pretty big day, we’ve been in transit now for about 12 hours now. We’re in New Zealand now, so we had another four-hour trip once we got off the flight down to Mount Manganui – it’s a lovely place so far,” he said.
“I think it’s going to be a pretty tough camp, but obviously it’s a good time for the group to get together and be able to bond and become a lot closer before we really get into the game stuff for pre-season.”
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