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In today\u2019s AFL briefing:Chris Scott suggested the Cats have been hamstrung by the AFL in not being able to answer questions about the immediate future of Tyson Stengle.Beau McCreery addresses a report that expansion club Tasmania have targeted him with a mega offer.Demon Harrison Petty is having further tests as Melbourne try to find the cause of his dizzy spell.\u2018I genuinely don\u2019t know\u2019: Scott in the dark about Stengle<\/p>\n
Scott Spits<\/p>\n
Geelong coach Chris Scott suggested the Cats have been hamstrung by the AFL in not being able to answer questions about the immediate future of premiership small forward Tyson Stengle<\/a>.<\/p>\n The 27-year-old last played in last year\u2019s grand final loss to the Brisbane Lions but has played nearly 100 matches for the Cats<\/a> since crossing to the club in 2022.<\/p>\n Asked at training on Wednesday about when Stengle would return to the Cats\u2019 senior side<\/a>, Scott gave limited information about the former Richmond and Adelaide player, suggesting some questions were better answered by the AFL.<\/p>\n Age columnist Caroline Wilson reported on Tuesday night that Geelong had only had \u201csporadic contact\u201d with Stengle and the 109-gamer had cut off communication with his management.<\/p>\n \u201cGeelong have only had sporadic contact with Tyson Stengle in recent weeks since he travelled to Adelaide at the start of Gather Round,\u201d Wilson said on Seven\u2019s Agenda Setters.<\/p>\n \u201cThere was an expectation that he might train today \u2013 I\u2019m not sure why because he\u2019s not even in town.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are Geelong leaders who hope to get in touch with Tyson this weekend.\u201d<\/p>\n Seven also reported that Stengle was subject to the AFL\u2019s medical model \u2013 including guidelines about returning to play.<\/p>\n Asked to clarify the situation and provide information about Stengle\u2019s whereabouts, the Geelong coach said: \u201cNo I can\u2019t. And, again, it\u2019s not my role to be across those things.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u201cIf I had good information, I probably wouldn\u2019t tell you anyway because I\u2019d consider it to be private, but this is one where I genuinely don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n When pressed if Geelong fans should be concerned about whether Stengle will return this year, and the uncertainty around a timeline, Scott said: \u201cThat\u2019s the way the AFL want it to be, so we have to submit to their processes.\u201d<\/p>\n Asked whether Stengle\u2019s absence was an AFL-led decision, Scott responded: \u201cI\u2019m not even sure that I\u2019m empowered to speak about that. That\u2019s how grey these areas are, so it\u2019s best that when I\u2019m unsure, that I say less.<\/p>\n \u201cBut to answer your specific question, which I think is a fraction unfair, it\u2019s not my position to settle the nerves of Geelong fans.<\/p>\n \u201cIf people want more information, they probably should direct their questions to the AFL.\u201d<\/p>\n The two-time premiership coach cautioned the media about speculating with \u201cless information\u201d than he had.<\/p>\n \u201cBut again, I\u2019d hate to sound defensive of it. I think what I\u2019ve learnt over the years is to acknowledge the different roles that people have in these sorts of situations,\u201d Scott said.<\/p>\n \u201cSo I don\u2019t have a problem with the media speculating, but they are speculating with less information than I have, and I have less information than other people at the club have, who probably have less information than the AFL have,\u201d Scott said.<\/p>\n But the Cats coach said he has \u201cloved\u201d what he\u2019s seen from Stengle at training recently.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen we see him out on the training track, we feel like, \u2018OK, we\u2019d like to get this guy into our team as soon as it\u2019s practical\u2019. So I don\u2019t resile from those comments,\u201d Scott said.<\/p>\n Asked specifically whether Stengle could return to his best, Scott said: \u201cYeah, [we\u2019ve got] supreme confidence. We are optimists, though.\u201d <\/p>\n Is this the AFL\u2019s new $7 million man?<\/p>\n Hannah Kennelly<\/p>\n Collingwood midfielder Beau McCreery has laughed off reports linking him to a potential $7 million offer from new expansion club Tasmania Devils.<\/p>\n On Tuesday night, AFL.com.au reported that Tasmania had identified McCreery \u2013 who is signed with the Magpies until 2027 \u2013 as a player of interest for their inaugural list<\/a> as they prepare to enter the competition in 2028, and was a target for a potential deal worth $1 million a season for seven years.<\/p>\n McCreery, who has played 102 games since making his debut in 2021, did the radio rounds on Wednesday morning ahead of the annual Anzac Day clash with Essendon at the MCG and laughed off questions surrounding the whopping deal, saying he was unaware of any formal offer.<\/p>\n The 25-year-old said Tasmania had not reached out to him with an offer during an interview on Triple M.<\/p>\n \u201cI was just as rattled when you were when you heard it,\u201d McCreery said.<\/p>\n \u201cNo, not personally, they haven\u2019t [reached out]. Obviously, it\u2019s big news to hear, but I\u2019m still contracted to Collingwood for the next two years \u2026 so, my eyes are on the prize there and obviously \u2026 we\u2019ve got a big game this weekend.\u201d<\/p>\n In a separate radio interview on Fox, McCreery again said he didn\u2019t know about an offer.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Demons seek answers on Petty<\/p>\n Danny Russell<\/p>\n Melbourne\u2019s Harrison Petty is undergoing a raft of tests in a bid to explain his mysterious mid-match wobbly spell<\/a>, despite the Demons already placing the defender in concussion protocols.<\/p>\n Melbourne have not been able to identify the exact cause of Petty\u2019s issue after he was escorted from the MCG by medical staff in the third term of their clash against the Brisbane Lions on Sunday afternoon.<\/p>\n Related Article \u201cIt\u2019s a unique situation,\u201d Melbourne coach Steven King said on Wednesday. \u201cWe\u2019re still doing some tests with him at the moment to ensure what it could be.<\/p>\n \u201cHis health and wellbeing is the most important thing. We\u2019re still not really sure exactly what\u2019s happened, and so we\u2019re exploring all those possibilities.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve put him in protocols at the moment because that\u2019s the most obvious, but we\u2019re still not 100 per cent sure that that\u2019s the case.\u201d<\/p>\n Petty copped a hit to the chin during a marking contest almost 45 minutes before he suffered blurred vision in the Demons\u2019 defensive goal square.<\/p>\n He turned over a kick and immediately sank to his haunches. He then walked back to lean on the goal post before being helped by Melbourne teammates.<\/p>\n Petty suffered concussion against Gold Coast in June last year.<\/p>\n \u201cBecause of his history, we\u2019ve put him in protocols at the moment because that\u2019s the most obvious thing that might have happened,\u201d King said.<\/p>\n \u201cBut there\u2019s still a range of things that it could be, so we\u2019re just making sure that that is the priority, to get to the bottom of it.\u201d<\/p>\n Petty had tests on Tuesday and was expected to have more this week.<\/p>\n \u201cOnce we get all that information, we\u2019ll make sure we sit down with the relevant people, the doctors, and make sure we set the right plan for Harrison,\u201d King said.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n King said he had been making his way from the coach\u2019s box to the ground and by the time he reached the interchange bench, Petty was being walked off.<\/p>\n \u201cWe had six or eight teammates get to him,\u201d King said.<\/p>\n \u201cI am actually really proud of the way we handled the whole situation in terms of just making sure that his welfare was above the game that was being played.\u201d<\/p>\n Related Article King said he was looking forward to being part of his first Anzac Day eve match when his eighth-placed Demons tackle the winless Richmond at the MCG on Friday night.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m looking forward to representing our club and all our great service people just with the whole pre-game and the atmosphere,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve gone to a lot and watched, and now to be part of it is going to be pretty special.\u201d<\/p>\n King said his Melbourne players were behind using rapper Warren G\u2019s song Regulate as a pointer during matches.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s not a bad sign to have at different times of the game,\u201d the first-year coach said.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not something that\u2019s an end-of-game scenario. It\u2019s more one for the boys to probably just take stock and let the game breathe.\u201d<\/p>\n Keep up to date with the best AFL coverage in the country. Sign up for the Real Footy newsletter<\/a>.<\/p>\n Save<\/p>\n You have reached your maximum number of saved items.<\/p>\n Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n![\"Geelong](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/d25da19727a43c079fe0d0cf1b006b4b52b5d43c.jpeg\")
Geelong small forward Tyson Stengle.Getty Images<\/p>\n![\"Beau](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/0de47dd6aebf908fb9364d2494baa7fe8956168e.jpeg\")
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Melbourne trainers walk Harrison Petty from the MCG.AFL Photos<\/p>\n![\"Christian](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1776870693_6_2f874a137d8edd36247a2797d80e4b55f28e8245.jpeg\")
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Hannah Kennelly<\/a> is an award-winning sports reporter and Formula 1 writer at The Age.Connect via email<\/a>.From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Updated April 22, 2026 \u2014 5:56pm,first published 12:18pm Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":623770,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,55,639,85],"class_list":["post-623769","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-afl","tag-afl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australian-football-league","tag-australianfootballleague","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/623769","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=623769"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/623769\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/623770"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=623769"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=623769"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=623769"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}