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.”

 

[ant555]

I’ve said this before and I know we’re literally out of options at the moment but he costs us games in the middle. He’s unaccountable and just hunts the footy out of the centres, great when the ball breaks our way, useless otherwise.

He’s had 12 shots on goal in the last 2 games, he should be someone we isolate deep forward.

He is always going to be the same in the middle. It is his one wood and that is attack footy like a bull with mad cow.
Would be good to have someone else who can play the role as well.
Right now the gap between good Jake and bad Jake is massive and it is that way because he has been injured a lot and is not fit. I do not buy into the contract year stuff. He has always been a player that has had to have a modified training program due to his broken leg and since we have been pushing him to train at midfield level he has had massive break downs and taken 4 or 5 games to get back into form.
Right now he is probably not the right player for us given our deficiencies. He is the guy who turns it on for a quarter here and there in a good side and wins you a game but he is not the guy you want to rely on week in and week out to play consistent footy and keep you in games.

 

[WindyHillWarrior]

Given his injury history, age being outside our flag window, and the return we could get, I would trade him

 

[Zach Package]

He is always going to be the same in the middle. It is his one wood and that is attack footy like a bull with mad cow.
Would be good to have someone else who can play the role as well.
Right now the gap between good Jake and bad Jake is massive and it is that way because he has been injured a lot and is not fit. I do not buy into the contract year stuff. He has always been a player that has had to have a modified training program due to his broken leg and since we have been pushing him to train at midfield level he has had massive break downs and taken 4 or 5 games to get back into form.
Right now he is probably not the right player for us given our deficiencies. He is the guy who turns it on for a quarter here and there in a good side and wins you a game but he is not the guy you want to rely on week in and week out to play consistent footy and keep you in games.

I’m fine with him being a flaky, charismatic enigma but I just don’t think he’s viable in the middle beyond a ‘we need 3 goals in 5 minutes’ type situation where you just fly him through the stoppage and don’t really mind if it goes the other way.

If you’re the opposition you’re sweating on him because whoever is on him will have a clean exit out the front of the contest with no opponent because he will pay them no mind.

Should not be in the midfield rotation.

 

[citizen-erased]

Hard call on trading.
Can win and lose games for us.
Perhaps a cutthroat team environment like the dees gets the best out of him consistently

 

[bacon buster]

the thing that disappoints me the most, is his lack of leadership

he still acts like a big sook if he doesn't get a handball, a free kick, or misses a shot he knows he should kick.

i know that's just kinda how it is, but i can't see how we can be a successful side when he displays those behavious as one of our highest paid players

that's not to mention what i believe is a lack of professionalism in looking after his body.

 

[Chief Hopper]

He didn't have a great game on the weekend, but that's been the teams underperforming story of the whole year.
He was influential in that run of victories the dons had last year and he provides an x factor difference that is hard for any team to get.

A good team would figure out how to get the best out of Jake more often then not.

 

[bacon buster]

He didn't have a great game on the weekend, but that's been the teams underperforming story of the whole year.
He was influential in that run of victories the dons had last year and he provides an x factor difference that is hard for any team to get.

A good team would figure out how to get the best out of Jake more often then not.

agreed. but Jake is a big boy - he needs to work out how to get the best out of Jake.

 

[faible]

agreed. but Jake is a big boy - he needs to work out how to get the best out of Jake.

tbf it seems like he was asked to do midfield running loads this preseason, which he did, then his body broke down because of it. That's partly on the S&C team for how they manage him.

 

[crackers65]

When Jake is on he is the package. When he is off he is the baggage. All players have a bad day but our guys seem to have too many together. I often wonder what our plan B is when planA is not working.

 

[bacon buster]

What’s his excuse this week? Drop him

 

[BrunoV]

Yep, I’d offer Parish, Stringer, Hind and Heppell up.

They’re all part of the cultural problems in one way or another.

Been thinking this for a while now re Stringer.

I can't think of an analogy I like but he's not a player you can rebuild with, you need to be a good side before you can be trusted with a player like Stringer. He would be amazing at a side where he just plugs in as x-factor, few players can win games off their own boot the way Stringer does.

For us, he's a bit of a liability. There are clear issues with professionalism and structurally we don't need x-factor, we need hard working marking targets and hard working smalls.

Hey Melbourne, you want to add 30 goals to your bottom line next year? Stringer kicks 50 to 60 for the Dees, no problem and he splits the attention on their key forwards.

 

[Beerfish]

Been thinking this for a while now re Stringer.

I can't think of an analogy I like but he's not a player you can rebuild with, you need to be a good side because you can be trusted with a player like Stringer. He would be amazing at a side where he just plugs in as x-factor, few players can win games off their own boot the way Stringer does.

For us, he's a bit of a liability. There are clear issues with professionalism and structurally we don't need x-factor, we need hard working marking targets and hard working smalls.

Hey Melbourne, you want to add 30 goals to your bottom line next year? Stringer kicks 50 to 60 for the Dees, no problem and he splits the attention on their key forwards.

Sad but probably true.

 

[crackers65]

If we are in a true rebuild Jake and a few other senior players should be on the trade table.

 

[Burzum]

 

[MiguelM]

Been thinking this for a while now re Stringer.

I can't think of an analogy I like but he's not a player you can rebuild with, you need to be a good side before you can be trusted with a player like Stringer. He would be amazing at a side where he just plugs in as x-factor, few players can win games off their own boot the way Stringer does.

For us, he's a bit of a liability. There are clear issues with professionalism and structurally we don't need x-factor, we need hard working marking targets and hard working smalls.

Hey Melbourne, you want to add 30 goals to your bottom line next year? Stringer kicks 50 to 60 for the Dees, no problem and he splits the attention on their key forwards.

I think he was so frustrated last year without a decent small forward or 2. Will be interesting how he goes with Tippa back.

Definitely won't see success with us but still love to have an x factor player. Footy is becoming boring enough.

 

[DERO]

For the love of god put him on 1 year contracts so every year is a contract year.

 

[crackers65]

This photo is a shocker. Surely it’s a pisstake. No professional athlete would dare to turn up to preseason looking like this. He has to be wearing
Russell Crowes fat suit.

 

[DERO]

Dirty bulk phase.

 

[Pweter]

Gee, I'm closer to having an AFL body than I thought

 

[yodellinhank]

For the love of god put him on 1 year contracts so every year is a contract year.

I don't see why we can't do 6 monthly, mid-season draft and all.

 

[Bombers36]

Yeh if little faith - don’t write off Jake having a big impact in 2023 - people seem to forget - he’s a BEAST


On iPhone using BigFooty.com mobile app

 

[jmoo wan]

he’s not fat, he’s festive.

 

[Nuggs Bunny]

Dirty bulk phase.

Three week stereo shred coming up.

 

[yodellinhank]

Feel like mud guts needs his banner photo updated.

 

[TheGreatBarryB]

he’s not fat, he’s festive.

Gees and it’s still 4 weeks until Xmas ..will look like the side of a house by then.