Nick Stevens (born 3 January 1980) is a former Australian rules footballer in the Australian Football League and current coach of South Australian National Football League club Glenelg.Originally from St Marys in the VMFL, Stevens was recruited in the 1997 AFL Draft to the Port Adelaide Football Club where he became a very prominent outside midfielder. In 1998, he was awarded the inaugural AFLPA Best First Year Player award.At the end of the 2003 season, Stevens expressed a desire to return to his native Melbourne and wished to be traded to Collingwood. Port Adelaide was unable to obtain what it considered appropriate trade consideration and as a result, Stevens quit the club and entered the pre-season draft. He was subsequently drafted by Carlton with the second selection in that draft.Stevens was named vice-captain of the club in 2007, a position he held until his retirement. After Round 3, on advice from specialists, Stevens had surgery to heal a prolapsed disc in his neck, ending his season; he had sustained a neck injury in a front-on collision with Melbourne's David Neitz in late 2006, but had continued to play and train. The injury was a major blow to Carlton, as Stevens had been in fantastic form through the pre-season and early rounds. On 23 August 2007, it was announced that Stevens had signed with the Blues until the end of 2010.By his standards, Stevens had a poor season in 2009, struggling to make a strong impact in many games, and attracting criticism for deficiencies in his defensive game. At midseason, Stevens was dropped to the VFL for a few games. At the conclusion of the season, it was revealed that Stevens had sustained another, more serious, recurrence of his neck injury from 2007, most likely caused by a collision with captain Chris Judd in Round 22; facing the risk of permanent spinal damage if he played on, Stevens officially announced his retirement on October 29, 2009, with one year remaining on his contract.Stevens played a total of 104 games for Carlton and 127 for Port Adelaide. He won four pre-season premierships, with Port Adelaide in 2001 and 2002, and with Carlton in 2005 and 2007. He is the only man to have won more than one Michael Tuck Medals, winning the awards in 2002 for Port Adelaide and in 2007 for Carlton.Following his retirement from AFL, Stevens focussed on expanding his business, NJS Signature Landscapes, in Melbourne. Additionally, he took on the senior coaching role of the NSW/ACT Rams for the AFL Under-18 Championships for 2010 and 2011; he had served as an assistant midfield coach for the team since 2006 while still playing for Carlton.In August 2011, Stevens made a return to the field, playing games for Montmorency in the Northern Football League, where he is still playing games in 2012. In November 2011, Stevens was appointed as senior coach at the Gippsland Power in the TAC Cup for the 2012 season. At the end of the 2013 season, it was confirmed Stevens would be joining South Australian Nationa
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