Shepparton ruck Bryce Stephenson stars in interleague appearance

He earned the praise of head coach Mark Lambourn as he led from the front at centre bounces and around the ground to dominate his O&M opponent.

Stephenson had a game-high 42 hit-outs, a game-high 16 contested possessions and led both teams in clearances with seven.

Before his heroics in Albury, Stephenson — who is in his third season at the Bears — rose through the ranks at Darley in Ballarat Football League before becoming the number one ruck at Deakin Reserve.

This year alone Stephenson has been judged in the better players in all but one game for the Bears.

Stephenson is ranked equal third in the competition for total hit-outs while he leads a number of statistical categories at club level.

The agile big man leads the Bears in score involvements with 31, ruck gathers, hit-outs and hit-outs to advantage while he is second for intercept marks, clearances and ball-up clearances.

In terms of his interleague contest, his prowess in the air and around the contests helped bring the GV back into the game.

His last quarter numbers were telling in almost getting his teammates over the line.

Stephenson had six disposals, all six of them contested, three clearances, 13 hit-outs and four total ground-ball gets.

If his exploits for the GV are backed up at club level for the Bears then Stephenson could just be the main mover in helping his side climb from ninth spot on the table.