AFL 2025: Brad Scott speaks on Jake Stringer trade from Essendon to GWS
Jake Stringer kicked 42 goals for Essendon last year and had a contract for 2025 but Brad Scott has revealed why he has sent to play for GWS. And why fans should know where the club is headed.
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Essendon coach Brad Scott has labelled the departure of goalkicker Jake Stringer as “a really good result for both parties”, putting the trade to the Giants partially down to the Bombers wanting to get younger.
Stringer played in every Essendon game last year and triggered a contract for 2025 but was essentially pushed out the door in the trade period.
The Bombers got pick 53 back for the 30-year-old, who kicked 42 goals in 2024.
Stringer publicly said he wanted to stay with the Bombers but he also wanted more security.
“Jake has got a lot of capability and a lot of talent,” Scott told this masthead from the Peninsula Sotheby’s Portsea Pro Am on Saturday, which raised money for Breast Cancer Network Australia.
“It is a bit of the reality of AFL football. You can be in the right time in terms of the demographic of the list and Jake is at the stage of his career where a two-year contract is really important to him and Essendon is at a different stage where we are looking to go a little bit younger.
“We ended up with I think a really good result for both parties, where Jake ended up with a two-year contract and we were able to invest in the draft.”
Losing a win-now goalkicker like Stringer could make Essendon’s quest to end a 20-year drought since a finals win even harder but Scott has overseen a series of long-term moves since joining the Bombers before the 2023 season.
The Dons are investing in the draft rather than trading in mature talent in a bid to finally get out of the middle of the ladder.
Scott said the Essendon fans should be clear on the club’s direction.
“You can look for short term fixes and in some ways it is tempting to do that because it is a cutthroat game and you want to win every game you play,” he said.
“But the reality is, if you want to build a list that is capable of competing sustainably, you have to build your list sustainably. That is the direction we have chosen, we have been really clear about that and I think for our members and supporters they can clearly see the direction we are going in.
“The difficulty is when your members get their hopes up and you bring in some potential short term solutions but that doesn’t always bode well for the long term.”
Scott was one of a strong contingent of notable figures – including his players Sam Durham and Kyle Langford – braving the heat at Portsea on Saturday for the Pro Am, chipping in for the BCNA.
“If you talk to the professional golfers who talk about the Portsea Pro Am being the best Pro Am on the circuit and it is back to being that right now,” he said.
Originally published as AFL 2025: Brad Scott speaks on Jake Stringer trade from Essendon to GWS
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