| Mark Stevens | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Personal information | |||
| Date of birth | 25 October 1975 | ||
| Place of birth | Victoria, Australia | ||
| Original team(s) | Gippsland Power (TAC Cup) / Heyfield | ||
| Debut | Round 10, 2 June 1995, North Melbourne vs. Essendon, at the MCG | ||
| Height | 194 cm (6 ft 4 in) | ||
| Weight | 88 kg (194 lb) | ||
| Playing career1 | |||
| Years | Club | Games (Goals) | |
| 1995–1997 | North Melbourne | 21 (20) | |
| 1998–2005 | Adelaide | 101 (103) | |
| Total | 122 (123) | ||
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 2005. | |||
| Career highlights | |||
| |||
| Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com | |||
Mark Stevens (born 25 October 1975) is a former Australian rules footballer in the Australian Football League.
Australian rules football, officially known as Australian football, or simply called Aussie rules, football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of eighteen players on an oval-shaped field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by kicking the oval-shaped ball between goal posts or between behind posts.
The Australian Football League (AFL) is the pre-eminent professional competition of Australian rules football. Through the AFL Commission, the AFL also serves as the sport's governing body, and is responsible for controlling the laws of the game. The league was founded as the Victorian Football League (VFL) as a breakaway from the previous Victorian Football Association (VFA), with its inaugural season commencing in 1897. Originally comprising only teams based in the Australian state of Victoria, the competition's name was changed to the Australian Football League for the 1990 season, after expanding to other states throughout the 1980s.
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Stevens debuted at the North Melbourne Football Club in 1995 and his preferred position was centre half-forward. Stevens struggled with the pace of AFL football in his early years at the Kangaroos. That, combined with the fact that the Kangaroos had Wayne Carey, arguably one of the finest players of all time, at centre half-forward, meant that Stevens struggled to cement a place in the side. He was traded to the Adelaide Football Club at the end of 1997 (for Jason McCartney).
The North Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed the Kangaroos or less formally the Roos, the Kangas or North, is the fourth oldest Australian rules football club in the Australian Football League (AFL) and is one of the oldest sporting clubs in Australia and the world. It is based at the Arden Street Oval in the inner Melbourne suburb of North Melbourne, Victoria, but plays its home matches at the nearby Docklands Stadium.
In Australian rules football, the centre half-forward is a position on the half-forward line of a football field. The directly opposing player is a centre half-back. Wayne Carey of the North Melbourne and Adelaide football clubs is often considered to be the greatest centre half-forward of all time.
Wayne Francis Carey is a former Australian rules footballer who played with the North Melbourne Football Club and the Adelaide Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL).
Steven's first year at the Crows saw him play in a Premiership side, defeating his former teammates at North Melbourne at the MCG. Over his career with Adelaide, Stevens improved and became a damaging player, consistently taking strong marks on the half-forward line for the Crows. His career came to an end early in the 2005 season, when injury finally took its toll on Stevens, forcing his retirement.
Stevens continued playing in North Gippsland (Vic) before joining South Yarra FC (Southern Football League) in 2010.
