Geelong coach Chris Scott has revealed forward Tyson Stengle is raring to play this weekend, with the Cats backing their All-Australian star instead of punishing him after he was unresponsive at a local bar over the weekend.
Stengle was taken to a nearby hospital in the early hours of Sunday morning, with the 25-year-old back at training by Monday as the Cats looked to move forward from the off-field concern.
Scott has confirmed Stengle, who has been named to face Adelaide on Saturday, is feeling fine and is "excited" to face his form side at Kardinia Park.
"He seems very good to me. Trained really well this week," Scott said on Friday.
"It's hard for me to be completely across how he's feeling from a health perspective. That's why as a coach I need to have a lot of faith in our medical staff. They're supremely confident that he's in good shape.
"He trained well, moved well, seems well enough and is excited to go out and play well, which is what we expect."
gathers the ball during the round 21 AFL match between the Geelong Cats and the St Kilda Saints at GMHBA Stadium on August 06, 2022 in Geelong, Australia. (Photo by Darrian Traynor/Getty Images)
Scott said there has been little to suggest Stengle should miss Round 21 when the Cats host the Crows six days on from Stengle's incident, with the small forward showing positive signs since early in the week.
The Cats coach said the incident "wasn't a huge issue", with the club's main concern placed around Stengle's health.
Scott went as far as to say Geelong won't look to treat their players "like kids" after "little hiccups".
"He's available to play, got the tick of approval from a health perspective very early on which is important," Scott added.
"Internally, we've had some conversations about it. We fully acknowledge as a club that we're going to have little hiccups here and there.ย We accept that there are going to be issues that pop up every now and again.
"First and foremost we think about the well-being of our players. We have a role to help educate them but we don't treat them like kids. We certainly don't take a punitive approach where we are seeking to punish every little misstep.
"It wasn't ideal, but it wasn't a huge issue either in our minds. It was one of those things that's going to happen every now and again."
Stengle was cut from the Crows in 2021 after a string of off-field indiscretions, with the Cats handing the South Australian another chance less than a year later.
Asked if Stengle was given a warning and could face consequences for another incident during his time as a Cat, Scott said he doesn't need to remind his players of the standards needing to be set.
"That would imply we're threatening a course of action, and we're not," he said,
"I don't believe that that's the culture we are trying to build here. We don't treat them like school kids, if anything we kind of work for those guys. We're here to try and create an environment where our players can thrive, it's not an authoritarian regime where the coaches warn that if you behave badly that you'll get turfed out.
"I don't think they need to be reminded that this is a competition and that if you don't perform or if there's a pattern of behaviour that long-term consequences.
"To isolate this situation with Tyson would be unfair."
Geelong host Adelaide at GMHBA Stadium on Saturday at 4:35 pm (AEST).
