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Steele is only 12 games into his journey at Collingwood since arriving last year as a midseason draft pick from West Perth, but Magpies fans will tell you he\u2019s made a wing his own this year. <\/p>\n
The 24-year-old is a hard runner, has the speed to play an impactful role in the modern game, is a thoughtful user of the footy, and has a mature head on his shoulders that\u2019ll serve him well at the level. <\/p>\n
Steele called what was his first \u2014 and likely not last \u2014 Anzac Day appearance for the Pies an \u201cunreal experience\u201d, and he set the tone early in what was a well-rounded display that only accentuated his value in Craig McRae\u2019s lineup. <\/p>\n
Against the Bombers, Steele finished with 18 disposals, two goals and eight score involvements; marked as the game\u2019s fifth-highest rated player, per Champion Data\u2019s ratings. <\/p>\n
But while statistically it was his best game of the season \u2014 and arguably his best at the club \u2014 the Frankston native isn\u2019t fixated on the numbers as he continues to find his feet at the professional level. <\/p>\n
\u201cI think I\u2019m still building into the team, I\u2019m still finding my role a little bit, still trying to feel as comfortable and confident out there as possible,\u201d Steele told Foxfooty.com.au on Anzac Day. <\/p>\n
MOBBED! Pies lose it over Pendles medal | 01:01<\/p>\n
\u201cI think my strengths lie on the outside, so to be able to get on the outside there a little bit, it\u2019s not necessarily all about kicks, marks and handballs, and goals are just an added bonus there. <\/p>\n
\u201cBut for me, it\u2019s really simple: just keep turning up, keep outnumbering at contests, and then hopefully, as we did (last Saturday), a little bit of benefit on the back with a couple of goals.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s that consistency in his approach to his role that has made him effectively a mainstay in this Collingwood outfit \u2014 having played all seven matches this year after five in the second half of last season. <\/p>\n
But while from the outside it seems as if Steele has solidified his spot, the humble Pie says it \u201cdefinitely\u201d doesn\u2019t feel that way. <\/p>\n
\u201cI think we\u2019ve got such a strong group of experienced players, absolute stars, so I think that keeps me on edge a little bit every week,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
\u201cI just want to give as much back of myself to them and play my role every week, and if it means that there\u2019s a spot there for me, then absolutely I\u2019ll keep putting my hand up for that.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just want to keep doing the little things really well, want to be a great teammate \u2014 we talk about that all the time \u2014 I know that I\u2019ll get my reward in the end, but I\u2019ve just got to keep turning up, and keep doing the little things that everyone internally really appreciates.\u201d<\/p>\n
Steele spends most of his time with midfield assistant coach Matthew Boyd, who, like Collingwood\u2019s No.45, wasn\u2019t a top choice in his road to the AFL \u2014 overlooked in his draft-eligible year and picked in the 2001 rookie draft. <\/p>\n
\u201cI think we have a really good relationship \u2014 he was obviously a little bit similar to me, getting picked up not in his 18s year, a little bit later on, so we\u2019ve built a really natural connection through that,\u201d Steele said. <\/p>\n
\u201cI sit down with \u2018Boydy\u2019 every week \u2026 and he points out the little things \u2014 it\u2019s not about the kicks, marks, handballs, it\u2019s about keep doing the little things within my role. <\/p>\n
\u201cAnd if I keep doing that and keep feeling comfortable and confident, keep trusting myself, then hopefully there\u2019s a spot there for the rest of the year, which would be nice.\u201d<\/p>\n
Steele arrived at Collingwood last year on a six-month deal \u2014 standard for midseason draftees \u2014 but quickly ascended in status to earn a two-year extension, keeping him in the black and white until at least the end of 2027. <\/p>\n
Steele celebrates kicking a goal during the Round 7 Anzac Day match between the Essendon Bombers and Collingwood Magpies at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, on April 25, 2026 (Photo by Daniel Pockett via Getty Images)Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n
But despite being almost a full year into his career, it hasn\u2019t quite sunk in yet that he\u2019s an AFL player. <\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know when it\u2019ll sink in, to be honest. It\u2019s still sort of walk in every day, seeing guys who\u2019ve done so much in their career \u2014 Jordy De Goey, Steele Sidebottom, Scott Pendlebury, even the Daicos brothers,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
\u201cEvery day, I don\u2019t take it for granted. (After) being on the other side of it, having to work my way through the state leagues \u2026 and I think since Day 1 I\u2019ve always wanted to put my head down, ask as many questions as possible, be super inquisitive and try and learn as much as possible off these guys who have played for 15 or 20 years. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s no surprise that they\u2019re still here and still performing as well as they do; it\u2019s because they do all the little things well. <\/p>\n
\u201cI just want to be a sponge to that, and if I can take bits and pieces off Scott Pendlebury and Steele Sidebottom, then it\u2019ll help me for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n
Steele is yet another feel-good story of a player who wasn\u2019t on the radar as a junior, before finding his feet in local competition and the state leagues, before being rightfully rewarded. <\/p>\n
He played the majority of his footy for Frankston YCW in the Mornington Peninsula Football Netball League, before getting picked up by the Casey Demons for the 2022 season.<\/p>\n
After thriving there for three seasons, he jetted over to West Perth where he averaged 21.1 disposals per game last year, putting himself firmly on the radar for the AFL\u2019s midyear intake. <\/p>\n
Joining Collingwood as a 24-year-old, Steele not only has confidence in his body being AFL-ready, but also believes his age has allowed him to connect with Pies teammates of varying ages. <\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, I think (being mature-aged has helped), and even smaller than that is just being able to build relationships,\u201d Steele said. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m sort of at an age where I can connect with the 18-year-olds and the guys that are sort of pushing the 30s as well. So, I think I\u2019m in a really good spot, and I\u2019ve sort of learnt that through being at multiple footy clubs that relationships are a big thing. <\/p>\n
\u201cI think that\u2019s helped me. If I can tip as much into other people that I sort of get the rewards off the back of that as well, so definitely it helps playing a lot of state-league footy, and feeling confident as quick as possible in your body, and knowing that it\u2019ll stand up. <\/p>\n
Darcy returns! Scott rests for milestone | 01:53<\/p>\n
\u201cJust feeling really confident in my strengths and my running power and my ability to outnumber, I know it can stand up.\u201d<\/p>\n
External discourse has focussed on Collingwood\u2019s ageing list for several years now \u2014 the oldest and most experienced in the competition, with 10 players aged 30 or older \u2014 but Steele is leading the next cluster of young Pies talent. <\/p>\n
Steele stood tall against Essendon, and Will Hayes (19 years old), Oscar Steene (22) and Angus Anderson (22) had their moments, while the likes of Charlie West, Joel Cochran (both 20) and more take their time developing in the reserves. <\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, I think it\u2019s really exciting that we have sort of three or four guys in that academy \u2014 one-to-four-years that are really pushing the more experienced guys \u2014 and we\u2019ve got a hungry group down in the VFL as well; you see Ed Allan perform well yesterday, Jack Buller, Charlie West,\u201d Steele said. <\/p>\n
\u201cGuys like this are pushing these guys every week, and it can only help us. And we always talk about the standards and wanting to be an AFL player \u2014 standards, whether you\u2019re playing in the AFL or VFL \u2026 so I think that really helps. <\/p>\n
\u201cFor me, I couldn\u2019t have walked into a better situation with all these experienced guys. I just want to be a sponge to them, and anything that I can take off them, and then help our one-to-four-year guys progress. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve got five new draftees this year, and I just want them to be as much of a sponge as I was when I came in last year \u2014 it can only benefit you.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s hard not to be impressed by Steele\u2019s humility and attitude towards helping his teammates in the same way his older peers have rubbed off on him. <\/p>\n
Not only does he belong at the level with regards to his talent, but he embodies the importance of \u2018role players\u2019 \u2014 which premiership sides can\u2019t have enough of. <\/p>\n
The Magpies will look to make it three wins on the trot when they face Hawthorn on Thursday night. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"He won\u2019t be the one to say it, but Collingwood winger Roan Steele is becoming firmly ingrained in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":636994,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[308312,638,215621,308317,170575,85102,64,63,689,55,639,133776,10133,10143,3499,2458,308309,106451,2105,12186,3231,233545,308318,16078,647,182036,83941,77704,308316,308314,308311,308313,677,308310,27704,28970,193896,269067,110614,1820,19083,85,155957,308319,36848,308315,660,3414,3439,9020],"class_list":["post-636993","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-afl","tag-absolute-stars","tag-afl","tag-ageing-contingent","tag-ageing-list","tag-angus-anderson","tag-anzac-day","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australia-and-new-zealand","tag-australian-football-league","tag-australianfootballleague","tag-charlie-west","tag-collingwood-magpies","tag-craig-mcrae","tag-daniel-pockett","tag-data","tag-experienced-guys","tag-feeling-confident","tag-getty-images-inc","tag-jack-buller","tag-jack-jovanovski","tag-joel-cochran","tag-jordy-de-goey","tag-matthew-boyd","tag-melbourne","tag-midfield-assistant","tag-midseason-draft-pick","tag-midseason-draftees","tag-midyear-intake","tag-mornington-peninsula-football-netball-league","tag-multiple-footy","tag-natural-connection","tag-oceania","tag-one-to-four-year-guys-progress","tag-oscar-steene","tag-premiership-sides","tag-professional-level","tag-role-players","tag-rookie-draft","tag-score-involvements","tag-scott-pendlebury","tag-sports","tag-state-leagues","tag-state-league-footy","tag-steele-sidebottom","tag-strengths-lie","tag-victoria","tag-west-perth","tag-western-australia","tag-young-gun"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/636993","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=636993"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/636993\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/636994"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=636993"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=636993"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=636993"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}