At his peak a decade ago, Nick Stevens was one of the AFL's premier midfielders. A flashy, outside runner, Stevens could run and carry the ball as few could. Drafted by Port Adelaide from the then Preston Under 18s in the TAC Cup, he played 127 matches with the Power, but wished to return home to join Collingwood after the 2003 season.
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The Magpies wanted him but a deal could not be reached. Forced into the pre-season draft, he was gleefully snapped by a Carlton side hurting from a $1 million fine and the loss of draft picks.
He would become a respected elder, spend extra time helping the emerging young talent during the Blues' bleakest era, and was named vice-captain in 2007. However, he was forced to retire after the '09 campaign with a year left on his contract because of a recurrence of a neck injury.
"It's never an easy transition from being a star player to life outside of footy," said one former Blues' teammate on Wednesday.
Stevens, 35, was jailed for eight months on Wednesday after being found guilty in January in Ringwood Magistrates Court of assaulting his then girlfriend in 2012 and 2013, threatening to kill her and threatening to kill her father.
Having launched an immediate appeal, he was granted bail by magistrate Nunzio La Rosa and will front the County Court on April 15. His appeal is against the conviction and sentence for the charges related to the assaults and threats to kill, having already been ordered to complete 90 hours of volunteer work for a breach of an intervention order.
Those close to Stevens said he had long been a heavy drinker. Amid this drama, he had maintained even a couple of months ago the case would go in his favour, having denied in private many of the accusations.
Some knew his former wife, and former girlfriends, and don't ever remember there being any issues.
"It's sad but this is what can happen. It's not a great week for looking at those guys who have struggled when their careers are done. Look at [Ben] Cousins and [Daniel] Kerr," a former teammate said.
"This is rock bottom for Nick. He wanted to be a senior coach. That can't happen now."
Stevens had what industry types refer to as a "good football brain", with former Blues chief executive Michael Malouf noting in court: "I saw Nick as being on the pathway to being an AFL coach. He had all the attributes."
His court demeanour clearly did not help him. Mr La Rosa said Stevens was unrepentant.
"He has no remorse, he has shown no remorse, he has adopted no responsibility," Mr La Rosa said.
"There was no remorse shown by you and you strongly contested the charges."
Mr La Rosa said violence against women were "to be condemned in the strictest of terms".
"This is an example, in my view, of not his general attitude towards women. It is his attitude ... of the person he is in a relationship with. That is the issue that the community is currently grappling with," he said.
Stevens rarely found trouble during his playing days, although in 2008 he was criticised by broadcaster Derryn Hinch for sitting at the table of underworld identity Mick Gatto during the Jeff Fenech-Azumah Nelson boxing fight.
"He's my next door neighbour. I bumped into him and asked him if he wanted a ticket and he came along to the fight," Gatto said at the time.
"He's done nothing wrong."
In 2009, he inadvertently found himself as one of six footballers who had received threatening letters from a deranged man who simply did not like him.
Upon being found guilty in January of five counts of assault, two charges of intentionally causing injury, three of making threats to kill and single counts of threatening serious injury and criminal damage, Stevens was sacked as coach of South Australian side Glenelg.
He had impressed during his time as coach of TAC Cup side, Gippsland Power.
It's understood the Blues' past players association will reach out to him because, if he does spend time behind bars, he will need help to rebuild his life.
In a 2012 interview, Stevens lamented joining the Blues during their most tumultuous period.
"The financial trouble they were in at the time was enormous for the footy club so I had four years of pain before we started to win some games," he said in a 2012 interview.
"Look, if I had have known that at the time, I probably wouldn't have gone because I still did love playing at Port Adelaide and loved my time there."
It's "time" of another kind he may now need to adjust to.