As much as people like to classify Stringer as a undersized key forward or 2nd forward target or any similar terms, I still believe that fundamentally his style of play can be more effective in the midfield, as he showed in this game.
Notwithstanding any given player can influence the outcome of a game from the midfield as opposed to the forward line (it's just common sense, the game is played out in the midfield more often than any given team's forward line), Stringer's strengths are suited to a midfield style of play.
Think about it.
His strengths are
- A combination of balance, poiise, agility and core strength that makes him incredibly hard to tackle
- Great ability to find his balance (watch some of his highlights from the past and it's amazing how quickly he can go from being off-balance, whether it be stumbling from a marking contest or something similar, to on his feet and attacking the ball at full pelt that split second earlier than his opponent)
- Good spacial awareness (he has a good ability of the distance between him and opponents, and whether or not he'll be able get through a gap. Look at his goal vs Essendon last year, the one against St. Kilda last year and the one that he kicked on his left in this game)
- Smart goal nous (being able to snap/dribble goals)
- The "separation" aspect. Put the ball in space, put all the above combination of skills together, and the mixture of his poise, agility, spacial awareness and the like means that as soon as he gets a gap between his opponent and himself, well good luck defending that.
His weaknesses are:
- Not a great set shot for goal
- Not a great overhead mark, given his height. Not terrible, but not genuine KPF-worthy. Often doesn't have the raw one-on-one marking strength to go with experienced defenders in overhead marking contests
- Doesn't have the required fitness base for the extra running and physical nature of playing stoppages/playing midfield.
It's fine to disagree with me, but I would say that the first three and fifth point from his strengths are more suited to playing midfield, rather than the forward line, where he can get involved in the play more often. Combine that with the fact he has some weaknesses (the first two) that limit his long-term potential as a forward, I would say that long-term, once he gets the fitness, he'll be most effective as a midfielder.