New Port coach Josh Carr explains why Power are interested in retired AFL star Jaidyn Stephenson

Port Adelaide coach Josh Carr has explained why the club is interested in throwing Jaidyn Stephenson a potential lifeline on the rookie list.

Stephenson will train with the Power over the summer, with the club open to recruiting the former North Melbourne and Collingwood forward.

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The 26-year-old walked away from the AFL last year despite having another season to run on his contract at Arden Street.

But after playing with local club Ferntree Gully this year, Stephenson is keen on returning to the AFL.

In September, 7NEWS revealed that Stephenson himself was initiating contact with potential clubs and the Power have shown enough interest to offer him a train-on spot.

Carr stressed there is no guarantee that he will win a rookie contract, but said the club would be “silly” not to pursue him.

Jaidyn Stephenson will train with Port Adelaide over summer. Credit: AAP

“From my point of view, we haven’t guaranteed Jaidyn any position on our list,” Carr said on SEN.

“He’s obviously got to get through the draft, but post-draft, we have guaranteed that he can come and train with us over the summer.

“I think we would be silly not to look at it. He’s a talented young player; he kicked something like 40 goals in his first year at Collingwood.

“He’s had his struggles but we’ve got some people at the footy club that know him really well and he’s matured and from my point of view we make a judgement at the end of pre-season just as we will for any other player that trains on in the pre-season and we’ll pick the best player that’s going to help us as a football club.”

Despite Port Adelaide’s optimism about Stephenson’s potential, club great and Channel 7 commentator Kane Cornes slammed the move.

“The worst thing I saw was the article of Port Adelaide considering Jaidyn Stephenson on their list,” Cornes recently said.

“Hopefully it’s just for a train-on spot and they’re not seriously considering him.

“It’s list-cloggers haven at Port Adelaide at the moment.

“There’s (Corey) Durdin, we’ve got Will Brodie, we’ve got Jacob Wehr, and I’m just not sure what’s happening there.”

Stephenson, who received a payout for a portion of his 2025 wage, kicked 38 goals in the Eastern Football League Division 3 this year.

Drafted by Collingwood at the end of 2017, Stephenson burst onto the scene in his debut season, kicking 38 goals to win the Rising Star award.

He departed Collingwood at the end of 2020 and played four seasons at North Melbourne and retired on 122 AFL games.

Meanwhile, Port Adelaide ushered in their new era on Thursday with Carr and football boss Ben Rutten unveiled.