Geelong coach Chris Scott has revealed that “there is a limit” to the support Geelong can offer absent forward Tyson Stengle as he struggles to restart his AFL career.
Stengle kicked four goals in his only VFL match this season on June 13 but did not make the flight to Queensland to play against Southport the following week.
The Cats have been patient as the 27-year-old battled to commit to the program this season but are also conscious of the obligations he has under his current contract, which stretches until the end of 2029.
He has not played a senior match since last year’s grand final and took leave from the program over the pre-season.
Scott, who is a strong supporter of Stengle, was more expansive speaking to reporters on Monday about the club’s position in relation to the premiership forward who has kicked 160 goals in 93 matches for the Cats.
“I’ve got so much admiration for the players that can just persevere through the ups and downs as well as they do,” Scott said.
“It is a bit of a surprise to me you don’t have more players just saying: ‘Look, I’m finding this too tough at the moment’.
“My take on where Tyson is at, that’s how he’s feeling about his sort of football life at the moment; it’s just all a little bit hard for him.
“There is a limit to our support with that because we’re like: ‘Hey man, we empathise with you; this is a tough game’. But there are limits to where our empathy takes us because we’re not a charity, as much as we’d like to be.”
Scott said any decision on when Stengle may be available to play next was not in his hands as the forward had not come close to senior selection in 2026.
He also emphasised that the club would continue to support Stengle as best it could, but said the best interests of the club and its ability to compete would be the major concern in its decision-making.
“You shouldn’t mistake the real priority that we place on player welfare for forgetting that we’re also in a high- performance industry where we have high expectations of our players and our people so that we can perform as well as possible,” Scott said.
Stengle made a remarkable return to football in 2022 when he was named All-Australian after kicking 53 goals in the Cats’ premiership season. He was a consistent performer over the next three seasons but has struggled with the game’s demands in 2026.
Scott also indicated that Tom Stewart and Bailey Smith were likely to return for Thursday night’s match against the Brisbane Lions.
Meanwhile, the Swans will be without key forward Joel Amartey for the next 10 weeks after he suffered a partial tear of the Achilles tendon against Brisbane, putting him in doubt for the rest of the season.
Keep up to date with the best AFL coverage in the country. Sign up for the Real Footy newsletter.
From our partners
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: www.smh.com.au
