Lions in focus – Ben Jepson

By Daniel Atamian

Coburg FC Media will be bringing to Lions fans the stories behind its players throughout the 2023 season and what better way than to start with one of the club’s in form players and a player that is attracting more AFL club interest by the week.

Meet Ben Jepson!

From his earliest memories of attending with his older brother Tom and his school friends, Ben has had a passion and love for the game of football with a grass roots connection to the Camberwell Sharks U9’s side where he first partook in competition for the first time back in 2010. It would be during his time at Carey Grammar whilst studying in year 10 & 11 that he realized he could play footy at a high level stating it was around this time that he “Built a lot of confidence there”.

His skill and ability was noticed by the Oakleigh Chargers who would bring Ben into their program and whilst reflecting fondly of his time at the Chargers, Ben reminisced about his selection “When I was first selected to play in the NAB League; I think it was called TAC Cup back then, I was excited to match it with some of the best players for that age in the state, it was good fun”.

“Jeppo” would go on to have some notable teammates who would go on to be drafted such as Gold Coast Suns Matt Rowell & Noah Anderson who were his teammates at both Carey Baptist Grammar and at Oakleigh, “I played with them at Carey in the school team, they were two of my best mates going through school, so learned a lot off them”.

Thinking back to his initial draft year in 2019 when he was overlooked by AFL teams, Jepson stated that he did not expect to be drafted, describing himself as “pretty underdeveloped, still growing and quite a late developer.  Having a couple of years to grow up and put some size on and stuff was probably more beneficial”.

In the leadup to the 2020 VFL season, Jepson signed with Richmond in the VFL and looked set to begin his VFL journey with the Tigers until the Covid-19 pandemic came through and disrupted his plans to begin a senior football journey.

In 2021, Jepson made the decision to join Coburg and hasn’t looked back since playing 27 games for the Lions where he has made the half back role his own.

Ben states that the main draw card for him to sign with the Lions and his thoughts of the culture set in place with the “Burgers” and the opportunities he would be given to don the navy and red, “I just thought it was a really good club, a good community club with good family values that drew me in, I wanted to play as much footy as I possibly could at the highest level and Coburg for me was the answer for that”.

“Seb (Spagnuolo) and Andrew (Sturgess) contacted me and brought me over to the club and explained that opportunities exist for me to become a consistent player and I am loving my time here at Coburg”

Jepson added “After the first part of the season with Old Carey in the VAFA, my debut game in 2021 against North was quite an exciting game, I think we only lost by a couple of points. I think it was pretty cool to play against an AFL aligned team and I felt as though I was ready to play and compete at the level, not just make up the numbers.Being at Old Carey provided me with a good base to improve my footy and be ready at the VFL level”.

Jepson has now entered his third year with the Lions and when comparing his games now compared to his debut he says the level of competition is still the same, but his confidence has grown in his abilities and impact in the game and the club both on and off the field “Now that I’m in my third year of VFL, I feel like the gameplay is obviously similar, in terms of the competition you come up against, but I think personally I feel a lot more confident at the level, that I can actually have a lot more of an impact on the game and also be a better teammate and show some more leadership and actually help the team more on and off the field”.

2022 holds a special place in Ben’s heart with the burgers, not only was it his second year playing at the VFL level, but it was also the time when his best mate and Brother Tom was signed to the club as his teammate. “Having my brother Tommy, join us at the ‘burgers last year was unreal, being able to train and play with my brother who is also my best mate is pretty special and as a team mate he is a ripper, he’s the sort of bloke that everyone would want in their team I think, he does all the hard stuff and I love him to bits”.

Speaking on how Coburg prepared him to take a leap to the next level and compete with those playing in the national competition, Jepson praised new head coach Jamie Cassidy-McNamara and the confidence he has instilled in him. “I think Coburg has prepared me to become the best footballer I can be and improve. I feel like I’ve definitely improved since being in the program, I think Jamie this year; the head coach, has really given me a lot of confidence and belief in myself to play to my strength and take my game to the next level, so I’m really grateful for him for what he’s doing and also the teammates, a great bunch of lads that train hard. I think this preseason what we did going into this season was an elite standard and held us all in good stead for the year ahead”.

Ben Jepson played some good football since debuting in 2021 but it could be said that his real breakout performance came this year, when in round 5 against Box Hill he finished the game with 34 disposals, 3 tackles, 13 marks and 145 ranking points against a team that had many Hawthorn AFL-listed players.  In round 6 against Geelong at Piranha park, Jepson then backed up that performance with a 30 disposal game in an 8 point loss to the Cats.

With elite decision making and foot skills and with a football brain that is beyond his years, Jepson has quickly established himself as one of the premier running defenders outside the AFL and he continues to put his name on the whiteboards of AFL club recruiting teams.

When asked about the upcoming 2023 AFL Mid-Season Draft and what his thoughts of being a potential pick, Jepson said “If anything was to eventuate from the mid-season draft, I think an AFL club could benefit of having me as a damaging sort of attacking player with good foot skills and decision making, but also a good team mate that will do anything to try and get the win for the team. If it doesn’t happen for me, that’s ok too as I will always be just as focused on helping Coburg rise up the ladder which I feel isn’t too far away.”

Off the field, Ben likes to catch a few waves whilst completing his studies in exercise science “I’m just finishing off my exercise sports science degree at Deakin, I work part time at Carey Grammar as a sports assistant, doing some coaching and strength and conditioning work, my hobbies include surfing, listening to music, walking my dogs and hanging out with my mates”.

No matter the outcome of the 2023 AFL Mid-Season Rookie Draft, Ben Jepson has proven that his star is on the rise and putting the greater footballing community on notice that he has arrived.

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