Congratulations to Ben Stephenson
Sponsored by The Ferguson Family

Ben Stephenson’s two try performance at Heath took him to 300 points for the club, beyond Danny Hague, to leave him with just Simon Smith’s 375 points (317 games) total to aim for to become the highest-scoring forward in Ionians history. He has 150 odd games to play with, so it’s a distinct possibility.

Ben came to I’s in 2017 and has been a mainstay of the pack, and obviously a prolific points scorer, ever since. It isn’t a coincidence that the line-out was something of a lottery in the 23/24 season, when Ben was absent through injury.

There is considerably more to his game than throwing in at the line-out. His mobility round the park and his defensive work are exemplary.

Despite that mobility, the majority of his tries have come from the back of a rolling maul and for some reason I was reminded of Fred Dibner as I watched Ben calmly control the maul, sat comfortably at the back, as it steamrollered over the line on Saturday.
Great work, Stiv. Keep it up and carry on!

(Words by Mally Knowles)