Analysis: What was the tipping point in Tyson Stengle’s career derailment at the Adelaide Crows?
Tyson Stengle had been living with cousin and mentor Eddie Betts until he left Adelaide for Carlton. Did his exit spark the young Crow’s behavioural issues?
Crows
Don't miss out on the headlines from Crows. Followed categories will be added to My News.
The tipping point in talks between Tyson Stengle and the Crows came when the club rejected a proposal for the small forward’s staged return to its AFL program via its SANFL side.
Adelaide was willing to keep the 22-year-old on its list – but only if he spent 2021 at junior club Woodville-West Torrens.
There was no guarantee of being reintegrated at the elite level in 2022.
It became obvious to Stengle that after his three off-field indiscretions last year, the Crows did not want him back in the fold.
That they were keen to distance themselves from him in 2021, rather than provide the platform to turn his career around.
Watch the 2021 Toyota AFL Premiership Season. Every match of every round Live on Kayo. New to Kayo? Try 14-Days Free Now >
Negotiations then turned to receiving a payout on the 16-gamer’s two-year contract, signed in August.
“Ultimately that was probably the point where it was clear the club didn’t see a future with Tyson … when they were suggesting he should play elsewhere in 2021, against his own teammates,” the AFL Players’ Association’s James Gallagher, who helped represent Stengle, told FIVEaa.
“It was pretty clear to him … that maybe the time was right for him to consider that he was going to be better served playing footy elsewhere.”
Even before The Advertiser revealed last week that Adelaide and Stengle were set to cut ties, there were clues his future would not be at West Lakes.
Nick Murray played in Stengle’s No. 18 guernsey in the Crows’ second pre-season game against Port Adelaide.
Stengle, who played 12 matches last year, was also not invited to the club’s annual photo session.
Three months after standing him down, the Crows and Stengle officially parted ways on Wednesday.
Their settlement is confidential but is understood to not be far off the value of the extension signed in August.
Talks between the club, Stengle, his management, the AFLPA and the league dragged on because of the accumulation of off-field incidents, his cultural considerations, what policy his latest incident fell under and the cost of the settlement.
Gallagher, the AFLPA’s general manager of legal and player affairs, said he was frustrated it had taken so long to come to an agreement with the Crows.
“This one took longer to resolve than any other I can remember (in five years with the AFLPA) and we’re involved in pretty much all these types of issues when they arise across the AFL,” he said.
The delay is understood to have taken its toll on Stengle’s wellbeing.
He has been training with Woodville-West Torrens since the start of February with no clarity about his future until now.
His management arranged for him to train with the Eagles, keen to get him back in a team environment after more than a month of solo sessions.
Football has long provided structure in Stengle’s life.
He was just four-years-old when he was removed from the care of his young parents by the state and taken in by his grandmother, Debra.
When Stengle returned to SA to join the Crows in late 2018, his cousin and new teammate Eddie Betts took him in.
Betts provided life perspective and a football role model in a family setting.
All three of Stengle’s off-field indiscretions – drink-driving in April, getting caught with drugs in September and being pictured next to what appeared to be an illicit substance in December – came after he stopped living with Betts’s family.
Stengle moved out on his own when the AFL great was traded back to Carlton late in 2019.
Adelaide football manager Adam Kelly insisted on Wednesday the club had provided ample support for Stengle.
Acknowledging he needed more guidance than most players, given his challenges away from football, the Crows even tried to have Stengle move in with former captain Taylor Walker last year.
Whether Adelaide has offered sufficient cultural support for Stengle is another question.
“We continued to work with Tyson throughout 2020 to try to find the best environment to help him succeed,” Kelly said on Wednesday.
“We showed a lot of faith in Tyson when we extended his contract and at that point in time we believed he had things in control off the field.
“We lost a bit of confidence in Tyson and his ability to deal with the demands of being an AFL footballer.”
Stengle will be hoping he is not out of the AFL system for long.
He is eyeing the mid-season draft and has a few clubs already asking about him.
To relaunch his career, he will decide in the next few days to play at either Woodville-West Torrens or in the VFL.
The Eagles are a familiar environment he enjoys, featuring teammates and staff he knows.
If he heads to Melbourne, he will be out of the Adelaide spotlight.
A move back in with the Betts family would probably be on the cards.
For the Crows, they have made a stand about their culture and what standards they are willing to accept in a new era.
The club is now spearheaded by fresh leaders, including coach Matthew Nicks, football manager Adam Kelly, chairman John Olsen and chief executive Tim Silvers.
It would have been a difficult call to part with a player in the club’s best 22 and who was arguably its best small forward.
Adelaide will have the chance to fill Stengle’s vacant list spot in the mid-season draft in June.
Stengle’s opportunity to be Betts’ successor at the Crows while wearing his mentor’s former No. 18 is gone.
But he is certainly talented enough to land another one elsewhere.
“We’d love to see Tyson have a great AFL career,” Kelly said.
More Coverage
Originally published as Analysis: What was the tipping point in Tyson Stengle’s career derailment at the Adelaide Crows?
Several Crows still in limbo after latest re-signings
A pair of promising defenders have signed on at Adelaide, but a number of Crows remain in limbo as the club prepares for a bumper trade period.
No, thanks: Crow turns back on Collingwood trade
Collingwood came hard at Mark Keane in an attempt to get the key defender back at the club. But the Irishman isn’t going anywhere, recommitting long term at the Crows.