Essendon recruit Jake Stringer is set for more time in the midfield when he runs out onto the field with the Bombers in 2018.
The All Australian and premiership player became the Dons third significant signing of the trade period when the Club and Western Bulldogs agreed to an exchange that saw picks 25 and 30 move to the Dogs.
Stringer is a three-time leading goal kicker at the Bulldogs, but Essendon Coach John Worsfold said his new pupil will split his time between the midfield and forward line.
“He’s a huge talent and he’s got a lot of upside in various positions on the ground,” Worsfold said.
“I don’t think we’ve seen anywhere near the best of Jake Stringer yet.
“We believe we can develop him where he can go through the midfield and have a big impact through there.
“He’s such a strong, powerful player – he’ll match the output of any of the big, strong ‘inside mids’ in the competition, but we know he can impact as a forward as well.
“As time goes on we’ll slowly see this team develop and we’ll see him fit into the need that we require but the flexibility is what we’re really pleased with.”
Stringer played 89 games for the Bulldogs.
He booted a career-best 56 goals in 2015 and kicked 42 in the Dogs 2016 premiership season. He also showed he could make an impact in the middle of the ground in recent seasons.
Worsfold said securing Stringer’s buy-in to the Club’s vision was a key piece of the process.
“The number one thing was – is Jake really committed to getting the best out of himself as a footballer and we certainly saw that,” he said.
“Then understanding the fit of the Club he’s coming to and the standards that we’re going to expect him to uphold in terms of the values that our players have developed themselves and getting his commitment to those values as well.
“We knew the talent he already had – he didn’t have to prove that to us – it was really about whether he was committed to getting the best out of himself and buying into what we stand for.”
Stringer will join fellow new recruits Devon Smith and Adam Saad in the red and black in 2018.
The Bombers were able to land the three established players for its first two picks in the 2017 National Draft and its third pick next year.
There was also a swap of second round picks for next year with GWS.
“We’re really pleased, he (Stringer) was obviously a player that once he was available we weighed up whether he would fit a need that we had going forward,” Worsfold said.
“Once we had that conclusion it was a matter of working pretty hard to get a trade done that worked for us.
“I think Adrian Dodoro and the team have done really well with the strategy they had in place around having three players that weren’t going to be easy trades – getting them all done has been great.”
