‘He’s dangerous’: GWS Giants vice-captain Josh Kelly already tipping big things for Jake Stringer

GWS vice-captain Josh Kelly has tipped the best is yet to come from Jake Stringer as the former Bomber relishes his start to life at the Giants.

New GWS recruit Jake Stringer has been tipped to find his best football in Sydney as the Giants look to atone for two seasons of back-to-back finals heartache.

The 30-year-old joined the Giants this off-season following seven years at Essendon and is coming off his best season for the Bombers where he finished with 42 goals.

But the pressure is off Stringer since moving from Melbourne as he joins a forward line with All-Australian and Coleman Medal-winning quality around him.

Giants vice-captain Josh Kelly confirmed that the forward is training the proverbial house down as he looks to hit the ground running in 2025.

A fit and firing Stringer looks primed to have a big impact for the Giants. Picture: Phil Hillyard

“He’s come back really fit and looking really strong,” Kelly said. “We’ve seen what he can do, we just want to get him out on the park and let him play his best football.

“Kingers (Adam Kingsley) is very role-based, and we’re very role-based as a team, so he’ll find his role within that. It’s just letting him flourish and no doubt he’ll impact the scoreboard but there will be other ways as well.

“He can turn a game off his own boot. There’s already been moments in training where he’s done that. He’s strong and will also be able to have pinch hits in the midfield and then be one out in the forward lines.

“He’s lived up to his name (the package). He’s a lot of fun out there and he’s dangerous. You can’t tackle him, it’s exciting.”

Jesse Hogan will be looking to strike up a strong partnership with Stringer. Picture: Phil Hillyard

Jesse Hogan was undoubtedly the Giants’ forward line star in 2024 as he finished with 77 goals for the season, but Kingsley is searching for more consistency in his third season in charge.

Stringer provides another superb option, and alongside captain Toby Greene, All-Australian squad member Brent Daniels and the ever-improving Aaron Cadman, Kelly believes it will be a tough task for opposition defences as the year progresses.

“(The Stringer-Hogan combination) is looking pretty dangerous, chuck Toby in there and they’re three guys that can turn a game off their own boots,” Kelly said.

“It’s not going to be an instant chemistry but there’s no doubt if you chuck those three names in the forward line it’s pretty dangerous. It’s exciting for us.

“(Toby) is flying, I think he always is. Our leaders, looking at Whitters (Whitfield), Toby, Jesse, Tom Green, they’ve come back in really good shape.

“I think they’ve got high standards for themselves and ultimately we’re all motivated to win a flag and I think we’re in the best position we will be for that.

“That’s not to put pressure on ourselves or anything, we’ve just got a belief that we should be up near the top and ultimately that’s our goal.”

GWS skipper Toby Greene has looked incredibly lean as he looks to return to his All-Australian standards. Picture: Phil Hillyard

Consistency is set to be a keyword for the Giants across the board for the next 12 months as they look to build on their reliability in the big moments.

While the two leads they threw away in finals are still fresh in their mind, the team believes they can use that as motivation to win the premiership that this group so desperately desires.

“It was a disappointing way to finish and we were obviously in strong positions,” Kelly said. “It’s not just going to change overnight, there’s areas we need to address and get better at, but we’re really confident.

“We were in some great positions in big football games and that’s an exciting position to be in. So, we’ve got to get back there now and do it all again.

“They’re the games you want to be playing in. It’s not easy to win a flag, there’s only one team every year that gets the honour to do that. We’re hoping that’ll be us soon rather than later.”

Originally published as ‘He’s dangerous’: GWS Giants vice-captain Josh Kelly already tipping big things for Jake Stringer