Premier Geelong’s hero Tyson Stengle’s celebrations after Saturday’s grand final win over Sydney were momentarily interrupted by a drug test.
Stengle, who was the game’s leading goal kicker with four majors, says he was stuck in the Cats’ rooms for 30 minutes as his teammates celebrated on the MCG following the test.
The 23-year-old was taken to the chambers by a tester as he descended an MCG tunnel.
“I got out of the ground, I was walking through the tunnel and a guy tapped me on the shoulder and said, ‘I have to test you,'” Stengle said on Nine’s Sunday Football Show.
“I was like, ‘Well, we’ll go out there and do it’, I wanted to do it right away and the boys were ready to sing the song, but I was in the bedrooms.”
As the Geelong players sang the song on the ground in front of their adoring fans, Stengle said he needed to leave before finalizing his test to go soak up the moment with his teammates.
“I was stuck in the chambers for about 30 minutes,” Stengle said.
“They were taking their time, I was trying to rush them, but they were taking their time.
“I had to leave, do the song but I had to go back and do the paperwork, but I did it in the end.”
In response to Stengle’s revelation, Channel Nine’s Tony Jones and Essendon great Matthew Lloyd called out the testers for robbing the small forward of priceless moments after the big win.
“I know they have a job to do, but time and place,” Jones said.
“You have to use a little common sense there.”
“I couldn’t agree with you more, TJ,” Lloyd added.
“He loses half an hour of it to be under (the ground), it’s so bad.”
Stengle finished the match with four goals, one behind, 15 eliminations and nine assists.
The 2022 All-Australian ended this year’s campaign with 53 goals to his name.