Jake Stringer is the talisman for the Bombers today, #2 ranked for the league in 2021 and #1 ranked after the byes, in a forward/mid role. Critics may say he hasn't put a full season together and most of his big games came against non-finalists, but today is the day to prove them wrong. At his best he is an unstoppable force surging from the centre and ramming through scores himself or setting them up for others. Essendon is going to need a lot of that in wet conditions where Peter Wright is unlikely to reproduce his seven-goal haul from the last time these two teams met at Docklands.
Jake Stringer is the talisman for the Bombers today, #2 ranked for the league in 2021 and #1 ranked after the byes, in a forward/mid role. Critics may say he hasn't put a full season together and most of his big games came against non-finalists, but today is the day to prove them wrong. At his best he is an unstoppable force surging from the centre and ramming through scores himself or setting them up for others. Essendon is going to need a lot of that in wet conditions where Peter Wright is unlikely to reproduce his seven-goal haul from the last time these two teams met at Docklands.
He's not a baby, Jake
When Jake Stringer came to Essendon, some of the hype around him centred on his capability to move to midfield, perhaps even permanently. That promise has receded the longer he has played at the Dons, as he has won the club goalkicking twice and manages one centre clearance per game. His role is very much primarily as a target forward, especially on those all-too-frequent days when Joe Daniher is absent. Stringer is the sort of key position forward whose average hovering around the forward baseline conceals an unacceptably large amount of variation in scoring from week to week, on a near-random basis as his rate only increases five points in wins and he can put in some quiet ones even when the team is doing well. Fantasy coaches who build their lists on this sort of boom-bust asset don't often make finals in draft leagues.
How long is piece of Stringer
There is no longer much talk of Jake Stringer moving to midfield, as the Bombers' need in the forward line is too great. In that third tall position, we know what kind of player he is: 15 touches, four marks and a goal or two per game. He posted his second-best set of figures in year six, with his scoreboard return of 30.23 a far cry from his best of 54.30 in 2015. This may seem obvious, but Stringer is the kind of player whose score is reliant on kicking goals: his fantasy score varied by about 20 points depending on whether he kicked zero goals or two-plus. Some days his radar is on and/or he gets shots from easy spots, other days not so much. Try not to have players like that in your squad, as they can disappoint.
Tangled up in Stringer
The Package unravelled, and now we know why. Jake Stringer's form has dropped off since his 2015 peak, and it came out last year that he had a gambling addiction, amongst other indiscretions. His on-field play tailed away, with six multiple goal games pre-bye then none after. The much-hyped move to midfield, as with much of his recent game, was overrated: 76% of his possessions came in the forward half. Stringer's new life at Essendon is not without its potential pitfalls. Relapses are common with this sort of problem, not to mention his home life being turned upside down. Even if he gets in the right head space, he has not so far shown the work rate to accumulate between the arcs anywhere near the extent of Tom T. Lynch. Someone in your draft will pick him up on name recognition alone. Don't.
