In every game of Australian football  there are instances of selfless courage. Of players backing into the unknown, the only certainty being that they are going to be involved in a collision. It’s one of the attributes that makes our game so… well… special.

Sometimes they are very public displays. Like Beau Waters, eyes fixed on the ball, pushing back and marking a hot football in the closing stages of the grand final against Sydney.

But there are other ways in which a player’s bravery can also impact upon his team. Like Tyson Stenglein, for instance. Possibly only four people among the 97,000 at the  MCG had any idea of what he was going through simply to play.

On the eve of the game Stenglein was hit by a solid bout of gastro-enteritis. He was crook, real crook. But, with the assistance of team doctor Rod Moore, he was able to settle his stomach for just long enough to get through the game.

Apart from Stenglein and Moore, only Steve Woodhouse, general manager of football operations, and senior coach John Worsfold were aware  of the  tough utility’s  medical plight. Stenglein assured them he could get through. And he did, with an admirable display through the midfield and pushing forward. At no stage was there the slightest hint that he was struggling. Yet surely there were times when he fought to suck the air through his lungs to make the contest, or to run to cover Brett Kirk or Adam Goodes, two key Swans on whom he played throughout the afternoon.

His responsibility in the team game plan was crucial. He couldn’t afford  to  let  his  coach or his teammates down and he did not. As West Coast fans have come to expect in the last two seasons, the versatile Stenglein performed his role with precise efficiency.

Since returning to his native Western Australia after a six-year stint with Adelaide, Stenglein has become a key operative in the Worsfold structure. At close to 190cm and 91kg, a player of his size would, not so long ago, have been locked into a key position.

But he has developed his stamina over the course of his career to such an extent that he can play through the midfield and run with the best of them. And that, primarily, was his task on grand final day.

He would play on Goodes, unless the dual Brownlow medallist wished to go head to head with captain Chris Judd. In the event of that match-up, ‘Stinger’ would be more likely to find  himself  opposed  to  Kirk.  Either  way, it was going to be a challenging afternoon, crook gut or not.

As it transpired, Stenglein essentially alternated between  those  two  high  profile Swans and completed his task with the usual efficiency. It was a wonderful day for him and vindication for his decision to join the West Coast Eagles through a trade arrangement at the end of the 2004 season.

“I suppose you can always dream  ahead, but at the time when I assessed my options, my immediate thoughts were about making the side,” Stenglein said of his decision to head west. “You can’t look too far ahead until these things are achieved.

“It was a great feeling to win the grand final. In the change-rooms it was  pretty  amazing. My parents were in there, just sharing it with your close family was amazing.”

Stenglein, who played each of the club’s 26 matches through the 2006 campaign, had the unusual situation where he shared a premiership on the game’s biggest stage with a man with whom he had also achieved the target of winning a flag in junior football. He and Chad Fletcher lived  in  the  same  street as kids, surfed together and played for the Karrinyup Junior Football Club. They triumphed in the under-13s.

“I got around to all the guys and I got around to Fletchy to make sure we got a few photos of the cup together,” he enthused. “Hopefully we will see them some day.

“I set some goals during the pre-season and one of them was to play every game. It’s not very often you get to do that, so I was pretty happy. Statistically,  I think  it was  one of  my better seasons as well.

“I was just rapt with the season and the way it turned out. I played all over the place and at times it was quite refreshing to play some new roles. I played forward a bit more than I have and kicked more goals than I ever have in a season.

“It was great and playing down back, having stints  back  there,  was  good  as  well.  Just coming out of the midfield and the body pulling up fresher for a few weeks.

“At the moment the over-riding emotion is just satisfaction. I just want to enjoy the first few weeks of the break while there’s no training. After a month of no training I will get into a little bit of work and do a bit of surfing.”

One of the pre-requisites for success in any team sport is team harmony and the West Coast Eagles boast that in abundance. There is a genuine connection between all players, a respect for their collective vision and a desire to create their own history. 

“With celebrations and  what’s  gone  on after the game, we just enjoy each other’s company,” Stenglein said in supporting that view. “It’s  a good  bunch of  blokes, we  have some good young guys coming through as well. There’s no one that none of us doesn’t enjoy being around.”

That unity will be a key component as the team and the club strive to build on the outstanding performance of 2006.