Cooper Stephens

{{Infobox AFL biography

| name = Cooper Stephens

| image =

| image_size = 200px

| caption =

| fullname = Cooper Stephens

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|2001|01|17|df=yes}}

| birth_place =

| death_date =

| death_place =

| originalteam = Colac, Geelong Falcons

| draftpick = No. 16, 2019 national draft
No. 3, 2024 rookie draft

| debutdate = Round 8, 2022

| debutteam = {{AFL Gee}}

| debutopponent = {{AFL GWS}}

| debutstadium = Manuka Oval, Canberra

| height = 188 cm

| weight = 86 kg

| position = Midfielder

| currentclub =

| guernsey =

| years1 = 2020–2022

| club1 = {{AFL Gee}}

| games_goals1 = 7 (0)

| statsend = the 2024 season

| careerhighlights =

}}

Cooper Stephens is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for Geelong and Hawthorn in the Australian Football League. Stephens played 7 matches for Geelong, however, he never played a senior match at Hawthorn.

Early life

Stephens broke his leg at the start of his final underage year. Despite being disappointed, he took the opportunity to train with the Geelong Falcons high performance manager and was in good shape for the combine testing at the end of the year.{{Cite web |date=2019-11-25 |title=After breaking his leg, gun AFL draftee Cooper Stephens hit the gym – and got seriously ripped |url=https://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/afl-draft-2019-cooper-stephens-ripped-abs-photos-geelong-falcons/news-story/04a31dcb5dee39b69470f95dd57ea7ad |access-date=2022-10-24 |website=Fox Sports |language=en |archive-date=12 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221012124418/https://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/afl-draft-2019-cooper-stephens-ripped-abs-photos-geelong-falcons/news-story/04a31dcb5dee39b69470f95dd57ea7ad |url-status=live }}

AFL career

Stephens was drafted by the Geelong Football Club with the 16th selection in the 2019 AFL draft from Geelong Falcons in the NAB League. He made his debut in Canberra against the {{AFL GWS}} in round 8 2022. He managed to play seven senior games in his debut season.

Cooper was traded to {{AFL Haw}} in a three way deal that saw Oliver Henry move to {{AFL Gee}} and Tom Mitchell move to {{AFL Col}}.

At the end of his first year at the club, Stephens was delisted to be re-drafted in the rookie draft.{{cite web|url=https://www.afl.com.au/news/1062339/hawthorn-hawks-delistings-chad-wingard-cooper-stephens-rookie-draft-national|title=Hawks pair to get rookie lifelines after being delisted|date=9 November 2023|publisher=afl.com.au}} At the end of his second season at the club, he was again delisted. Stephens never played a senior game for the club.{{cite web|url=https://www.afl.com.au/news/1223286/ex-cat-cooper-stephens-one-of-two-players-delisted-by-hawthorn|title=Ex Cat one of two players delisted by Hawthorn|date=18 September 2024|publisher=afl.com.au}}

Statistics

Updated to the end of the 2024 season.{{cite web |title=Cooper Stephens |url=https://afltables.com/afl/stats/players/C/Cooper_Stephens.html |website=AFLTables |access-date=6 August 2022}}

| 2020{{efn|The 2020 season was played with 17 home-and-away matches per team (down from 22) and 16-minute quarters with time on (down from 20-minute quarters with time on) due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.}} || {{AFL Gee}} || 12

| 0 || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || 0

| 2021 || {{AFL Gee}} || 12

| 0 || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || 0

| 2022 || {{AFL Gee}} || 12

| 7 || 0 || 0 || 36 || 40 || 76 || 14 || 11 || 0.0 || 0.0 || 5.1 || 5.7 || 10.8 || 2.0 || 1.5 || 0

| 2023 || {{AFL Haw}} || 21

| 0 || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || 0

| 2024 || {{AFL Haw}} || 21

| 0 || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || 0

|- class="sortbottom"

! colspan=3| Career

! 7 !! 0 !! 0 !! 36 !! 40 !! 76 !! 14 !! 11 !! 0.0 !! 0.0 !! 5.1 !! 5.7 !! 10.8 !! 2.0 !! 1.5 !! 0