Let's be honest, you don't see many Coburg games. Last year you made some very uninformed comments on our ruckman who were playing reserves footy. One of those ruckman destroyed the guy you are now talking up. I might like Gus as bloke but at least I can admit he's not much chop as a #1 ruckman at the top level. Is a decent option as a back up. Your hate will not allow you to admit he was very close to the best ruckman in Australia that wasn't getting regular AFL games in 2012. Seriously, he had 60+ hitouts in a game last year and was named in the bests very often. Adelaide picked him up because he has ability. His efforts in pre-season have been good. If you think Graham wasn't getting 13 touches and 4 marks at Coburg then you're definitely mistaken. Andy Browne did that often. Stephenson is the new Addam. Why can't we ever wait until the season proper 
Ok then, here are some informed comments about the "very close to the best ruckman in Australia that wasn't getting regular AFL games in 2012":
In 2012 Graham played 1 AFL game and 17 VFL games, Stephenson played 8 AFL games and 7 VFL games. Their respective averages for those VFL games are:
Graham - 7.3 kicks, 7.6 handballs, 5.2 marks, 2.7 tackles, 28 hitouts. His highest hitout number for the season was 48, not 60+ as mentioned.
Stephenson - 7.3 kicks, 7.4 handballs, 5.1 marks, 3.4 tackles, 44.6 hitouts. His highest hitout number was 60.
So on bare stats they rated the same for kicks, handballs and marks, Stephenson slightly better in tackles and much better in hitouts.
In 2012 Graham was named in the best players in 7 of his 17 games, an average of once every 2.4 games he played. Stephenson was named in the best in 5 of his 7 games, an average of once every 1.4 games.
So Stephenson was named in his team's best players much more on average than Graham.
In 2012 at least 14 VFL ruckmen received votes in the JJ Liston Trophy with Tom Bellchambers topping the list with 9 votes. Stephenson received 7 votes polling in 5 of his 7 games. Graham never received a vote in any of his 17 games.
I don't know what season you refer to when you say Graham destroyed Stephenson because they never faced off in 2012. And Graham wasn't named in the best in either of the games against Geelong but his opponent both times in 2012 - Dawson Simpson - was named in the best in one of those games. If the "destroying" occurred prior to 2012 then we are starting to not compare apples with apples because prior to that Graham had the advantage of learning and developing in the AFL system since 2007, Stephenson had never had that opportunity up to then. And one thing Graham had over many other clubs (not Geelong though) in the VFL in 2012 was that he was getting a decent chop out in the ruck for most of the year from Browne (who was in the best players a number of times himself but not as often as Graham). When I researched these stats I realised that most of the VFL clubs went with one ruckman on many occasions - in theory this should have made it much easier for Graham to 'shine'.
To be fair to Graham, I didn't include Stephenson's 4 finals games in 2012 because Graham didn't have the same opportunity to show his 'true' ability under the added pressure of finals football but it is interesting to note that Stephenson was named in the best players for Geelong in 3 of their 4 games including the Grand Final.
Angus Graham might be the best bloke that ever lived but his football achievements and record do not attest to the fact of him being "very close to the best ruckman in Australia that wasn't getting regular AFL games in 2012" no matter how you look at it. And I didn't have to see any of the Coburg games to come up with plenty of facts to support my position. My definition of "a decent option as a backup" is someone who is capable of competing satisfactorily at the top level when required and even if they aren't capable of beating their opponent, at least compete to give your team a chance. Graham was never able to do that to anywhere near the level required so I will stay with my opinion that he wasn't "a decent option as a backup" at all. And none of that opinion is based on "hate" but all on fact and observation. Let's see how he steps up for Adelaide.
