Crows leader Brodie Smith tells why the decision was made for Tyson Stengle to inform the playing group late last week about his drink-driving incident
Crow coach Matthew Nicks says he hopes Tyson Stengle learns from his drink-driving indiscretion, but has delivered the young forward a blunt message as he works through what sanctions will be handed down.
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Adelaide coach Matthew Nicks says he hopes Tyson Stengle learns from his drink-driving indiscretion but has issued the young forward with a blunt message as he works through what sanctions he will be hit with.
“There will be sanctions there are certain ways we go about things and that isn’t one of them,” Nicks said.
It comes as Adelaide leadership group member Brodie Smith said the first thought he had when he found out about the incident was for the welfare of Stengle, and while the youngster will have to face the consequences the playing group will make sure he is OK.
The Crows on Friday night issued a statement that said Stengle, 21, had been stopped by police for driving an unregistered vehicle and recorded a blood alcohol reading of 0.125.
Police later confirmed the incident happened just after 2am on Thursday, April, 9, on Grafton Ave, Morphettville.
Stengle was not the sole occupant of the car but the club has confirmed a teammate was not involved and he was not being investigated for breaching social-distancing regulations. Adelaide’s player welfare manager Emma Barr was notified of the incident on the afternoon of Easter Saturday, April 11, and subsequently informed club management.
The club did not make a public statement about the incident until Friday night, April 17 – almost a week later.
On The Lowdown Podcast, Smith said as a member of Adelaide’s leadership group, he found out about Stengle’s misdemeanour earlier in the week during a meeting of the Crows leaders.
“It was obviously really disappointing news, I guess initially for us we were worried about Tyson and making sure he was OK,” Smith said.
“His welfare came first once the club was made aware what happened and go through the process of making sure he is OK and then go through exactly what he’d done and what happened.
“But the main thing for us was to make sure he was OK, his welfare was OK, but then to educate not just him but the entire group around drink driving and it’s not just an illegal act that you can get punished for you can put lives at risk.”
The statement from the Crows came just hours after news that Western Bulldogs’ vice-captain Lachie Hunter had been involved in an alleged drink-drive crash in Melbourne.
The club has come under criticism for the timing of its statement.
Smith said he believed Stengle needed to inform his teammates about what he’d done.
“As a group we thought it was best to leave it to Friday to let Tyson explain it to the group and make sure everyone found out at the same time in Tyson’s presence.
“That’s the approach we took and I think it went really well in terms of education for Tyson, being able to talk to the whole group and obviously education for the whole group.
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“And a reminder what can happen in those situations and Tyson was lucky that no-one was hurt.”
As well as police charges, Stengle will face a club-imposed sanction, which is likely to include a fine, multiple-game suspension and be ordered to attend community education programs.
Nicks said what exact sanctions Stengle would be imposed with were still being decided.
“Hopefully for him it’s a learning experience,” Nicks said.
“He’s a young kid and he’s had a fantastic pre-season so for him it’s a really big set back but he will put his down and get back to work
“There are a few details that we are working through at this point so as an exec we are looking at the moment at what those sanctions will be.”
Smith also said it was important Stengle learns his lesson from this.
“We will get around him, he’s done a lot of good things this pre-season and he’s come a long way,” he said.
“He was ready to play some good footy.
“We are disappointed … there will be some consequences (for Stengle) but we need to make sure he’s OK and that this doesn’t happen again.”
The two incidents have sparked debate about how players are coping without the lack of structure in their lives because of the COVID-19 prompted suspension of the season.
Port Adelaide star Tom Rockliff said the loss of routine players would be under increased stress but that could not excuse those actions.
“For guys who have come in the system as an 18-year-old, it’s the only structure that they have to have to have that taken away from them and the programming and the uncertainty would build a level of anxiety and different stresses,” he said.
“It’s important that you make the right decision … those guys have made the wrong decisions and the wrong time I’m sure the football clubs will support them as best they can but we can’t be putting lives at risk.
“There’s no doubts that the stresses have gone up and we’ve lost routine but there has to be some ownership.”