After weeks of behind-the-scenes negotiations, AFL club Geelong Cats and premiership-winning small forward Tyson Stengle have officially confirmed their mutual separation, bringing a dramatic, weeks-long contract saga to a close. The 2022 premiership winner and All-Australian selection, who had not featured for the Cats at all during the 2025 season, broke his silence in a joint statement released with the club on Friday afternoon.
The controversy surrounding Stengle first emerged in April, when Australian broadcaster Channel 7 first reported the forward had stepped out of the public eye and cut off contact with most people connected to the club. Stengle had previously been granted an extended Christmas break on personal grounds, and returned to club training shortly after the break concluded. However, senior football journalist Caroline Wilson later revealed that the 2022 premiership star had severed ties across multiple circles linked to him: he cut off contact with his entire management team, which included Anna Betts, wife of AFL legend Eddie Betts, ended communication with local Indigenous leaders he had previously worked with, and left only a tiny handful of Geelong club personnel with any ability to reach him.
At the time of the announcement, Stengle remained contracted to Geelong through to the end of 2029, with an estimated $2.1 million still outstanding on the remaining three years of his contract. The mutual termination of this deal closes one of the most unusual and high-profile off-field sagas of the current AFL season.
In his first public comment since stepping out of view, Stengle expressed gratitude for the support he received during his tenure at the club. “Thank you so much to the Geelong Footy Club. In particular, to my teammates, the coaching staff, the support staff and most importantly to the fans,” Stengle said. “Your unwavering and loyal support through the great times and the tough times has meant more to me than you will ever know. I am deeply grateful and look forward to supporting the club as a fan.”
Geelong’s executive general manager Andrew Mackie said the club had concluded that a mutual separation was the best outcome for both Stengle and the club moving forward. “We would like to congratulate Tyson on what he has achieved over his career, including his time at Geelong,” Mackie said. “To play over 100 games, earn All Australian selection and be part of a premiership team are achievements we are proud to have shared with him. We thank Tyson for his contribution to the Cats and celebrate what he has achieved in his football career.”