Traded #25: Jake Stringer - 📦 Traded to GWS for Pick #53 - 16/10

[faible]

Whilst many of our players have had interrupted pre-seasons it sounds like Stringer is as fit as he's ever been in his time here

AFL 2020: Jake Stringer Essendon, best pre-season ever, Bombers injuries

In the midst of his club’s wretched summer injury run, Essendon gun Jake Stringer says he’s never been in better shape after experiencing one of his best and smoothest pre-seasons of his AFL career.

www.foxsports.com.au

In the midst of his club’s wretched summer injury run, Essendon gun Jake Stringer says he’s never been in better shape after experiencing one of his best and smoothest pre-seasons of his AFL career.

A host of key Bombers have, at different stages over the past few months, battled a range of injuries or suffered setbacks, including Joe Daniher (groin), Cale Hooker (hip), Dylan Shiel (knee) David Zaharakis (knee), Dyson Heppell (foot), Michael Hurley (shoulder) and Orazio Fantasia (hip).

However Stringer, who battled foot, knee and hamstring issues to play 19 of a possible 23 games in 2019, has not just been a constant presence on the track, but also one of Essendon’s best trainers.

In his eighth AFL pre-season, Stringer recently ran a personal best in the 2km time trial, slashing a whopping 20 seconds off his previous top time.

Asked on SEN Breakfast how he was going physically, Stringer cheekily said: “I’m borderline flying at the minute … nah I’m going well.”

The 25-year-old said it’d been “one of the hardest pre-seasons I’ve ever done”. He hailed the influence of the Bombers’ new head of strength and conditioning Sean Murphy, who’s come across from Hawthorn and “really tested us physically and mentally”.

“Not being injured is a massive part and I don't think I've missed a session the whole pre-season, which is all you can ask for when you go into a pre-season is complete as many sessions as you can. I’d be probably in the top one or two at the club that hasn’t missed,” Stringer told SEN on Friday morning.

Asked if it’d been one of his smoothest AFL pre-seasons yet, Stringer declared: “Yeah, by far.

“Last year was pretty good, but this year’s been taken to a new level with Sean Murphy coming across. He's really pushed the boundaries with me.

“It's been a hard slog and, don't worry, I'm looking forward to playing and getting out of this pre-season phase.”

Even though Stringer is “flying”, he said seven or eight teammates are still not in full training, but the “majority of them were running”.

“Not everything's gone to plan, obviously. There's been a few blokes that are still not quite into full training, but that's part of football and part of the pre-season. You’ve just got to deal with whatever comes,” Stringer said.

He later added: “We’re in a great position to able to springboard into the season and hopefully get a few more of these top echelon blokes back.”

The first-round draft pick kicked 98.55 for the Bulldogs in 2015 and 2016 before being traded ahead of the 2018 season to the Bombers, where he’s spent recent summers training with the on-ballers.

Stringer said the plan was still for him to play a mixture of midfield and forward minutes this season, but added he’d been training primarily with the attacking group this pre-season and “honing in on my craft as a forward”.

Stringer said Essendon’s succession plan, which will see senior coach John Worsfold gradually hand the reins to assistant Ben Rutten throughout 2020, was working well. He said Worsfold was at the club everyday and engaged with the players, but Rutten took charge of all tactical discussions and meetings.

“The work that John and Ben have done together has been absolutely outstanding and literally the smoothest transition that you could possibly ever see. It's a credit to both of them how well it's actually gone,” Stringer said.

“I couldn’t be happier with where the club is at the minute.”

Stringer said there’d be a noticeable but not dramatic change to the club’s game plan this season.

“It’ll definitely be a lot more consistent,” Stringer said.

“From a whole learning (process) and even in training, you’re seeing it more and more every time we’re doing bits of match ‘sim’. I think it’ll be very noticeable when people come to watch us.”

 

[11kgm]

Get him right for after the bye no need to rush him back or send him to Perth

 

[Bunk Moreland]

Four weeks

Injury setbacks for Caldwell, Stringer

An update on the hamstring injuries to Jye Caldwell and Jake Stringer.

www.essendonfc.com.au

 

[ant555]

Four weeks

Injury setbacks for Caldwell, Stringer

An update on the hamstring injuries to Jye Caldwell and Jake Stringer.

www.essendonfc.com.au

So we can safely add 2 to that.

 

[Vander18]

I think it's a honey trap. Hes not a midfielder, he gets lost around the ground in normal midfield duties but he is a perfect centre stoppage player when everything is compartmentalized into one play.

I say his role now is the perfect one for him...take the centre square then roll forward

This.

 

[Howard Moon]

Four weeks

Injury setbacks for Caldwell, Stringer

An update on the hamstring injuries to Jye Caldwell and Jake Stringer.

www.essendonfc.com.au

Wonder if playing a half with it added a few weeks...

 

[TheGreatBarryB]

Wonder if playing a half with it added a few weeks...

You have to wonder…why is he still out there with a hammy?

 

[Stopher]

Basically he'll be back after the bye. Not the worst result.

 

[Maddogm]

Wonder if playing a half with it added a few weeks...

At what point did he go off? I know late in the game the commentary team were discussing whether he should be subbed off due to his lack of output while Guelfi was shown on screen involved in the play

 

[Megabattimus]

At what point did he go off? I know late in the game the commentary team were discussing whether he should be subbed off due to his lack of output while Guelfi was shown on screen involved in the play

Third quarter he got subbed out, but he went off a few times during the first and second quarter.

On Pixel 3 using BigFooty.com mobile app

 

[The Prosecutor]

He did the injury 10 minutes into the game.

 

[WindyHillWarrior]

Four weeks

Injury setbacks for Caldwell, Stringer

An update on the hamstring injuries to Jye Caldwell and Jake Stringer.

www.essendonfc.com.au

See you in 2022, String.

 

[BomberFan355]

I wonder what the most consecutive amount of games Stringer has played for us would be? Seems like he spends half of every season out injured. Frustrating as he is so important for us in the role he plays.

 

[The Prosecutor]

Game streaks, with games missed in brackets.

2018: 16 (2) 4
2019: 10 (1) 1 (2) 8
2020: 4 (7) 6
2021: (2) 6 (?)

Averages about 7 games before injury.

 

[Sanj48]

Hamstrung Stringer faces contract wait

Injured Essendon star Jake Stringer is without a contract for next season and rival clubs have been put on notice of his potential availability.

www.theage.com.au

Rival clubs have been put on notice of the potential availability of Essendon star Jake Stringer.

The former Western Bulldogs premiership player is in the final year of his four-year deal with the Bombers and the club and Stringer’s management are yet to have meaningful contract talks.

To cloud matters, Stringer faces a month on the sidelines with a hamstring issue, meaning he won’t be back playing until past the halfway mark of the season.

Essendon have entered a difficult stage of list management, with the club attempting to regenerate its list while staying competitive.

The departures of key players Joe Daniher, Adam Saad and Orazio Fantasia helped the Bombers pick up three players inside the top 10 in last year’s draft. And despite sitting 15th on the ladder with a record of 2-6, the Bombers are playing exciting football and have a healthy percentage of 95.6.

Much of the focus this year has been on out-of-contract midfielder Zach Merrett, who has publicly admitted he is yet to decide whether he wants to stay at Essendon or chase success at another club.

Club sources have told The Age that Essendon want Stringer to stay, but for the right deal.
After a tumultuous ending with the Western Bulldogs, particularly between Stringer and coach Luke Beveridge, Stringer arrived at Tullamarine on a four-year deal worth just over $500,000 a season.

Stringer’s value as a player is difficult to quantify.

He burst onto the scene as a 21-year-old, booting 56 goals in his third season before backing it up with 42 goals in a premiership year.
Since arriving at Essendon, however, he has failed to emulate that form.

He kicked 63 goals in his first two seasons at Essendon, playing all possible games but five.
Injury ruined most of his 2020 season and he was just starting to put together some exciting form this season before again being struck down by injury.

Over the course of his career, Stringer averages 13 disposals and slightly less than two goals a game.
He has failed to finish in the top 10 of the best and fairest in his first three seasons at Essendon.

At his best, Stringer is a brilliant player. He’s tough, he hits the scoreboard and he’s unique. But does he do it often enough to justify a long-term contract at more than $600,000 per season?

The Bombers have made no secret that they are trying to add depth to their midfield. They brought in Greater Western Sydney young gun Jye Caldwell – who has what appears to be a season-ending hamstring injury – and made a significant play at Bulldog Josh Dunkley, a situation that they are likely to return to.
While Stringer doesn’t fill that void as a pure midfielder, losing him would make him the third big-name forward to leave Essendon in two years after the departures of Daniher and Fantasia.

The evolving situation has pricked the ears of several rival clubs, however the Bombers remain in the box seat to retain his services.

 

[Lore]

Pfft

 

[Old Campaigner]

Gone

 

[joey_jo_jo]

I just hate the footy media landscape nowadays that we are talking about trades and free agency from round 1.

 

[Lore]

Starts running today, then 3-4 weeks to build up to playing.

3-4 weeks means either he plays against Richmond in Round 12 or he'll be back after the bye.

Yeah so Jake had the MRI confirmed that he's got a low-grade hamstring strain. He'll start that rehab process now and he presented really well yesterday.

He'll actually look to get running hopefully today and then we'll look to build him up over the next 3-4 weeks and get him back to playing.

Injury news: Draper progressing, Waterman available

Get the latest injury news on Sam Draper, Alec Waterman, Zach Reid and more ahead of round nine.

www.essendonfc.com.au

 

[jmoo wan]

Starts running today, then 3-4 weeks to build up to playing.

3-4 weeks means either he plays against Richmond in Round 12 or he'll be back after the bye.

Injury news: Draper progressing, Waterman available

Get the latest injury news on Sam Draper, Alec Waterman, Zach Reid and more ahead of round nine.

www.essendonfc.com.au

Low grade says 3-4 weeks is very conservative isn’t it?

 

[Megabattimus]

Low grade says 3-4 weeks is very conservative isn’t it?

Probably but it makes sense given his injury history.

On Pixel 3 using BigFooty.com mobile app

 

[Lore]

Low grade says 3-4 weeks is very conservative isn’t it?

Reasonably. Although I think the way we normally do our estimates, it's 3-4 weeks until he's available at AFL level. So it should include a game or two of VFL, theoretically.

 

[blitzer]

The trade situation with Stringer is interesting. I mean at his best I love what he brings to the table. At the same time lets face it he has his issues. Firstly he isn't the most durable. He's the sort of guy you'd expect to play 14-18 games out of 22. Not the worst durability but far from the best either. Compounding the first issue is that he tends to perform poorly upon returning from injury.
Thirdly he's not the most professional of trainers and at 27 I don't think its unfair to suggest that will never change. Its a shame because if he had the fitness to be a full time midfielder he's probably the type we'd really benefit from.
Finally he's 27 and we are a list that could easily be more than 3 years away from seriously challenging for anything. If that's the case we might be better off selling now whilst he's still got a fair bit of his value (I'd be thinking early 2nd rounder for Stringer). Honestly I have no idea what kind of player Stringer would be like 30+. His training ethic counts against him but his strength will still be a good advantage for him.

On the positive side he's a dynamic and dangerous player that has high impact wherever he plays. He's a booming kick and a nice decision maker. He kicks goals and creates them in various ways including his ball delivery, one on one strength and being too quick for bigger opponents. He's clearly our most prolific goal kicker when he manages to stay fit over the time he's been on the list. He's very good at centre clearances. We don't have many players that are high impact on our list.

I'd certainly be tabling a reasonable offer for him. Probably 3 years $450 - $500K type range. I would not offer 4 years + at any price (within reason). If that's not enough then best to part ways. Merrett and Parish much higher priority signings.

 

[ant555]

Club wants him and he wants to stay. Only a big discrepancy in dollars would hinder this. Not sure other clubs would be jumping out of the blocks to offer him massive coin.

 

[bennyg12]

3 years at 500k a year ... just get it done

 

[TheGreatBarryB]

3 years at 500k a year ... just get it done

Very important player…would pay even more