Geelong coach Chris Scott has declared the football achievements of recently exited Cat Tyson Stengle were "so close to a miracle it is not funny".
Stengle and the club parted ways last week after 93 games, a premiership medal and an All-Australian blazer in the blue and white hoops. It comes after a season plagued by personal issues which have kept him off the field. He has not featured since last year's grand final.
"It's disappointing to see him finish, I'm not sugar-coating that bit," Scott told reporters on Wednesday.
"But we should be more celebrating his contribution rather than mourning his finish.
"Whenever someone leaves, my preference is to think about their time at the club in totality. It is like when a gun retires, we shouldn't think about how they went in their last couple of games or their last season. You should be thinking about the contribution they made.
"Tyson was an outstanding success for us.
"I would be invading his privacy if I spoke to some of the challenges that he has had through his life, but I think you can take it as read that for him to do what he did in the AFL system is so close to a miracle it is not funny. He should be so proud of what he has been able to achieve."
Stengle's exit from Geelong followed shortly after Collingwood cut ties with Norm Smith Medallist Bobby Hill, who was also dealing with personal issues away from the club.
Scott acknowledged the high-pressure environment within the AFL and being a professional athlete, and implored society to become more accustomed to the fact the game may not be for everyone.
"He's not the first, he won't be the last, that it just all becomes too difficult," he said.
"It's an incredibly challenging environment that we operate in. And so it should be; it's not for everyone. And I think we should be more comfortable when players say 'look, I just can't do this any more'.
"And my take on Tyson is that that's more the situation, that it all just became too difficult for him rather than any specific issue he had.
"And we will work as hard as we can to make sure that the rest of his life is a success as well."
