AFL 2021: Tyson Stengle’s Adelaide Crows career in jeopardy after latest indiscretion

Adelaide is still deciding on an appropriate penalty for Tyson Stengle as the Crows continue to support the stood down forward.

The Crows are helping Tyson Stengle through his “tough time”. Picture: Sarah Reed

Tyson Stengle will likely have to wait until the new year to learn his fate for a third off-field indiscretion in eight months.

Adelaide remains in talks with Stengle and his manager, the AFL and the league’s players’ association about a punishment for the 22-year-old small forward, who has been stood down since last week for being pictured next to what appears to be an illicit substance.

With the Crows football department starting their Christmas break on Monday night, an outcome is not expected until they return on January 6.

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Adelaide chief executive Andrew Fagan told ABC radio on Tuesday that Stengle was going through a “tough time” but the Crows were helping him.

“We’ll give him the support that he needs to continue to train away from the group at the moment until this matter is resolved,” Fagan said.

“We’re working through gathering details on the matter with the AFL and the AFL Players Association, obviously working with Tyson and his management.

“We have stood him down, which indicates the seriousness with which we view the incident, particularly as it relates to some other things that have taken place earlier in the year.

“When we’re in a position to make comment we will.”

Stengle, who signed a two-year contract extension in August, was fined $1671 for drink-driving while unlicensed and unregistered in April, and was caught with drugs in the city in September.

He is already set to miss the first four matches of next season for the September incident.

Stengle has played 16 career games for Richmond and the Crows, including 12 this year.

Why Stengle needs the Crows now more than ever

Not many footballers get four chances, but Tyson Stengle needs to be given another, rather than axed from the Crows.

The small forward’s career is in jeopardy after his third indiscretion in just eight months.

Stengle’s latest off-field incident – being pictured next to what appeared to be an illegal substance – led to him being stood down by the Crows on Monday, pending a club and league investigation.

Some will say it needs to be three strikes, you’re out – the 22-year-old has had his chances and again let the club down, it is time to cut ties.

And with the Crows trying to fix perceived cultural problems, how can they take Stengle along for the ride if he continues to fall short of professional standards?

But his circumstances are not only distinct from most, football provides structure in his life and he needs to stay in the game.

Tyson Stengle has been stood down by the Crows as an investigation is underway. Picture: Getty Images.

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.

Football then offered a different life for Stengle.

When Debra died, he moved in with his Nan and Pop, Emily and Cecil Betts, and they helped him fulfil his AFL dream in being drafted – to Richmond in 2016.

When Stengle returned to Adelaide from two seasons at the Tigers, his cousin and new Crows teammate Eddie Betts took him in.

Betts supported Stengle as he settled into the club and the veteran offered life perspective in a family environment.

Helping to babysit became the norm and Betts offered a daily football role model amid the weekly AFL grind.

It does not seem a coincidence that all three of Stengle’s off-field incidents – drink-driving, getting caught with drugs and this latest one – have happened since moving out on his own, following Betts’s return to Carlton late last year.

All three matters have also happened out of season when Stengle loses his routine.

Eddie Betts is one of the games most respected Indigenous voices and once found himself at a similar crossroads. Picture: Getty Images

Betts – one of the most widely respected players in the league and arguably its most powerful Indigenous voice – is more than just a mentor as the older family member for Stengle.

He will also be able to relate to what Stengle is enduring as he tries to navigate the AFL landscape while growing up.

Betts was 23 – one year older than Stengle is now – when he spent one night in jail after being arrested in Melbourne’s CBD for drunk and disorderly behaviour in 2009.

Ahead of his 300th game last year, Betts said it was a defining moment: “You think to yourself what are you doing, is this going to be the end of my career?

“I sat down and spoke to my wife, Anna and decided to snap out of it,” Betts told Fox Footy’s AFL360.

“I had to change my ways professionally and become a professional athlete.

“I had to go out and train hard and concentrate on my footy and that’s what I did and I ended up putting myself on the right path.”

Stengle is now at a similar crossroads.

The Crows, his manager, the AFL Players Association and the league continue to discuss a potential sanction for him.

He is already missing the first four games of next season as punishment for the September matter.

The outcome this time looms as a classic catch-22.

The Crows cant have some rules for one players and not others but Stengle needs to be supported. Picture: Getty Images.

Adelaide cannot be seen to have a different set of rules for one player to the rest of the group and the misbehaviour is a poor look for the club and league.

But Stengle’s indiscretions appear dumb, rather than malicious or intentional, a sign of immaturity for someone who has sometimes lacked guidance and understanding in his life.

Whatever is decided, Stengle’s wellbeing will be paramount.

There are no questions over his talent – he is one of the Crows’ top small forwards and a member of their best side.

Given another opportunity, Stengle needs to grasp it by making changes.

People with knowledge of his situation say he needs to separate himself from friends who are poor influences on his choices, give back to the community to help gain more life perspective and surround himself with more Betts-like mentors.

Crows coach Matthew Nicks has reached out to a club contact in recent weeks hoping they can help support Stengle.

Nicks is not simply doing that as a coach who wants his player to improve to benefit his side, which is coming off a wooden-spoon.

But as someone who cares about Stengle as a person and whose mantra since becoming coach at the end of 2019 has been prioritising others.

After the Crows beat the Hawks in September, Nicks said: “Ultimately my job is to make these young guys better young men.”

The best chance for Stengle to do that is at West Lakes with the continued support of the football club.

Betts made the most of his opportunity to turn his career and life around, becoming an AFL great.

Hopefully, Stengle gets another chance to follow in his footsteps next season, while wearing his mentor’s old No. 18 guernsey.

Latest indiscretion derails Crows plan to help Stengle

Adelaide was seeking to organise extra mentoring for Tyson Stengle from outside the club when it learnt of the small forward’s latest indiscretion.

The Crows and a club contact with a history of working with Indigenous players were this week set to discuss a plan to help the 22-year-old, including considering different living arrangements for him.

But that meeting was postponed after the club stood Stengle down on Monday for a third off-field matter in eight months.

Adelaide, which tailors mentoring for all its players, had welfare networks already in place for Stengle but the club acknowledged he needed more support than most, given some of his challenges away from football.

The Crows were understood to have received a photo on Sunday of Stengle next to what appeared to be an illicit substance.

An acquaintance of the 16-gamer was believed to have taken the picture and circulated it.

Stengle’s career now hangs in the balance as discussions involving the Crows, his manager, the AFL Players Association and league continue.

An outcome is not expected until at least Thursday but may stretch on until next week.

Tyson Stengle may have played his last game for the Crows. Picture: Getty Images

Stengle, who signed a two-year contract extension in August, was fined $1671 for drink-driving while unlicensed and unregistered in April, and was caught with drugs in the city in September.

He was suspended for four matches on both occasions and received a strike under the league’s illicit drugs policy for the second matter.

All three of Stengle’s off-field indiscretions at the Crows have come since he stopped living with his cousin, AFL great Eddie Betts.

Stengle stayed with the Betts family after crossing to West Lakes from Richmond at the end of 2018 before moving out on his own once the 34-year-old rejoined Carlton late last year.

His indiscretions have also come outside the structure of a minor-round campaign.

The first came during the COVID break after Round 1 in March, the other two post-season.

Stengle’s wellbeing is central to the mentoring for him.

This year, Stengle played a career-high 12 games, kicking eight goals and averaging 9.75 disposals.

Originally published as AFL 2021: Tyson Stengle’s Adelaide Crows career in jeopardy after latest indiscretion