THE FOOTBALL world knew that Cooper Stephens had moved from Geelong to Hawthorn before he did.
The 21-year-old was travelling diagonally across Ireland with a full carload of now former teammates when they all lost reception minutes before the trade deadline last month.
Stephens was in the Emerald Isle with a big group of Geelong players to watch Mark O'Connor play Gaelic football for his hometown Dingle, but ended up spending part of the week frantically communicating with home after a potential trade emerged late in the period.
With five minutes left before the deadline slammed shut for another year, nothing had been executed. The car was en route to Dublin airport for a flight to Amsterdam when everyone lost reception. Messages wouldn't deliver, the internet wouldn't reload.
But life in limbo didn't last long.
Not long after pulling into a service station on the side of a highway, now former Geelong teammate Nick Stevens refreshed Instagram and broke the news to Stephens, triggering a wild scene of pandemonium that left oblivious onlookers puzzled.
The deal was done. Geelong had negotiated a deal with Collingwood and Hawthorn that granted Ollie Henry, Tom Mitchell and Stephens their trade wishes as part of a three-way trade.
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After overcoming the challenges of no state league football due to the pandemic in 2020 and an ankle injury that wiped out his 2021 campaign, Stephens broke through for a debut in round eight this year and managed six more appearances for Chris Scott – two as the unused medi-sub – around nine other VFL games in 2022.
Now, the 16th pick from the 2019 NAB AFL Draft will play for the club he grew up supporting, working under a coach in Sam Mitchell that he used to barrack for from the stands, chasing greater opportunity to make his own mark in the AFL.
"Dad was a mad Hawks supporter and as a young kid I jumped on that bandwagon with him and supported them throughout my whole childhood, so it was definitely a dream come true when that trade did go through. To pull on the Hawks jumper for the first time is going to be pretty special," Stephens told AFL.com.au on Tuesday.
Stephens departed Australia for a month in Europe with the intention of returning to Geelong to fight for a spot in 2023, just like he had this year. But things changed at the Cats during a busy Continental Tyres AFL Trade Period for the premiers.
Weeks after the club won its 10th premiership, Geelong list manager Andrew Mackie pulled off one of the great Trade Period heists, acquiring three former first-round picks – Tanner Bruhn, Jack Bowes and Henry – plus pick No.7 from Gold Coast.
After Geelong added Bruhn and Bowes and maintained its interest in Henry, Stephens had the Cats' blessing to explore his options. Clubs were interested in the 188cm midfielder, who had impressed in his limited exposure to senior football, including Hawthorn, which signalled its intentions late in the Trade Period.
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"It was discussed briefly earlier, but more if A, B, C and D actually happened," Stephens said. "Nothing was set in concrete. In my mind, at the start of the Trade Period I was 100 per cent playing for Geelong in 2023.
"A few things happened and it popped up in the last couple of days; a few things went my way; a few things went Geelong's way to allow the trade to happen."
It meant a deluge of messages back and forth from Dingle – a town of just over 2,000 people where O'Connor was stopped almost every 10 metres for a photo or autograph – to the other side of the world between Stephens and his manager, Winston Rous from Phoenix Management Group, before a trade could be finalised in the closing minutes of the period.
"It was pretty difficult. Winston did a lot for me; he was amazing through the process. There was a lot of WhatsApp messages, Insta messages and WhatsApp calls and stuff like that. Winston did 99 per cent of the work. Very happy I had him," he said.
"When the trade happened, we all had our WhatsApp groups and the Geelong boys contacted me there. A lot of the Hawks boys contacted me through Instagram. It was a crazy time, to be honest."
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Those inside GMHBA Stadium speak glowingly of Stephens and had high hopes for the former Geelong Falcons co-captain. But despite investing so heavily in him only a few years ago, the Cats understood why he wanted to leave after being stuck in the queue before the club's aggressive Trade Period activity.
"I definitely think we left on really good terms. I'm actually catching up with Mack [Andrew Mackie] this week for a coffee to thank him for what he's done for me and what he did for me throughout the Trade Period," he said.
"There is definitely no hard feelings with me leaving. I think everyone understood that it is a very hard midfield to get into at Geelong, and they had some really good trades, I think they are hopeful for me and looking forward to seeing me get the opportunity."
After overcoming a frustrating start to life in the AFL, Stephens took a step forward in 2022, collecting 19 disposals on debut and averaging 23.1 disposals and 4.3 tackles per game in the VFL to keep his magnet in regular senior contention at match committee as the Cats won the final 16 games of the season.
"My mindset at the start of the year was more about getting continuity after missing all of last year. Those seven games were just a bonus. To get through the season pretty much injury free and play 20 games, that was my biggest tick out of the year," he said.
"It was awesome to pull on the hoops for the first time and it's definitely a memory I'll cherish forever. It was more about getting continuity and confidence in my body. I'll reap the rewards in the years ahead."
The plan is to play even more senior football in 2023 at Waverley Park. The Hawks made the bold decision to trade out seasoned stars in Mitchell and Jaeger O'Meara during a busy Trade Period that also resulted in the departure of Jack Gunston, following the retirements of Ben McEvoy and Liam Shiels. An opportunity presents itself for Stephens at a club undergoing a dramatic rebuild.
"That's my plan, but before that even happens there is a pre-season to get through and there are a lot of quality young players at Hawthorn," he said.
"I'm just looking forward to getting in there and learning off them and learning with them. I'm not setting any expectations for next year; if I can play 20 games that's great but if it's 10 or 15 I'll be happy. No expectation with games, I'm just looking forward to getting to work."
Stephens is driving up and back from Geelong to Hawthorn's training base at Waverley Park for some off-season sessions at the moment, but plans on moving to Melbourne before starting pre-season on November 21.
Those car trips are not quite as dramatic as what transpired from Dingle to Dublin on deadline day, but a by-product of what went down in the closing minutes of a chaotic Trade Period Stephens will never forget.
