Stephen Allender
Sydney and Hawthorn
AFL career
30 games29 goals
- Debut
- R6 1981 v STK2 May 1981
- Most recent
- R8 1984 v CAR19 May 1984
Stats
Bio
A key position prospect recruited from the VFA, Stephen Allender arrived at South Melbourne with high expectations after winning the 1980 J.J. Liston Trophy and a premiership with Port Melbourne. His entry into the VFL was marred by a clearance controversy involving Carlton, who held his zonal rights, forcing South to pay a hefty fine to secure the mobile ruckman-forward. Allender played the bulk of his football during the Swans' turbulent relocation to Sydney, utilising his height and marking ability to drift forward and hit the scoreboard regularly. He was thrown a career lifeline by reigning premiers Hawthorn for the 1984 season, but faced the difficult task of breaking into a star-studded lineup before a fractured vertebra sustained in the reserves effectively ended his time at the elite level. The nephew of South Melbourne legend Peter Bedford, Allender eventually returned to the VFA, remembered as a talented tall whose VFL tenure was restricted by injury and circumstance.
Profile
- Born
- 24 July 1960 (age 66y 89d)
- Birthplace
- Melbourne, VIC
- Height
- 194 cm
- Weight
- 83 kg
Teams
Honours
- J.J. Liston Trophy1980
Bio
1 revisionA key position prospect recruited from the VFA, Stephen Allender arrived at South Melbourne with high expectations after winning the 1980 J.J. Liston Trophy and a premiership with Port Melbourne. His entry into the VFL was marred by a clearance controversy involving Carlton, who held his zonal rights, forcing South to pay a hefty fine to secure the mobile ruckman-forward. Allender played the bulk of his football during the Swans' turbulent relocation to Sydney, utilising his height and marking ability to drift forward and hit the scoreboard regularly. He was thrown a career lifeline by reigning premiers Hawthorn for the 1984 season, but faced the difficult task of breaking into a star-studded lineup before a fractured vertebra sustained in the reserves effectively ended his time at the elite level. The nephew of South Melbourne legend Peter Bedford, Allender eventually returned to the VFA, remembered as a talented tall whose VFL tenure was restricted by injury and circumstance.