Nate Caddy, Sam Draper tipped to step up to fill Essendon’s Jake Stringer void in 2025

Jake Stringer was the leading goalkicker in an inconsistent Bombers forward line last year. CHRIS CAVANAGH examines how the Dons’ attack will look without him.

He is not Essendon’s poster boy just yet, but Nate Caddy might be by the end of the season.

The Bombers have a Jake Stringer-sized hole to fill in their forward line — and sales of Caddy’s No. 30 jumper will skyrocket if he can go some way to plugging it this year.

Coach Brad Scott last month labelled Stringer’s trade to Greater Western Sydney as a “really good result for both parties”.

But Scott was clearly viewing the move through long-term lens rather than a short-term one.

The reality is that Stringer kicked 42 goals last season – more than 15 per cent of the Bombers’ total – to finish as the club’s second-highest goalkicker behind Kyle Langford.

That sort of return won’t be easy to replace in 2025.

“Stringer’s obviously a superstar so we’ve got to all chip in and work hard,” fellow forward Jade Gresham said.

“But I feel like it is going to be really exciting. We’ve got a young list down there, so I’m looking forward to seeing what they can do.”

Essendon needs to Nate Caddy to step up after trading Jake Stringer to GWS. Picture: Mark Stewart

Top draftee Isaac Kako. Picture: Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images

It is not all on Caddy’s shoulders entering his second season, but as a marking target in attack he looms as a long-term replacement for Stringer.

Caddy spoke recently about being “more adapted to the way AFL is played” after getting himself “fitter and … stronger” over the off-season.

He said he hoped to become a “dual threat in the forward line”, given his ability to play deep inside-50 or push up the ground.

There were no questions over Caddy’s workrate, endurance, hunger for the contest or aerial abilities last year.

The key area where he has “adapted” and improved has been his leading patterns as a forward.

“He’s got himself really fit and he’s put on weight,” Langford said of Caddy.

“He’s one of those players that has enormous game day endurance. But for him, it’s just learning how to not run 16km’s of trash and running some really quality K’s. I think that’s the only thing that’s separating him from kicking more goals and performing week in, week out – just learning to be an AFL forward. But he’s made massive inroads this pre-season and I’ve been really impressed by him.”

Langford and Caddy look set to be supported by a resting ruckman this season, with Sam Draper having spent significant time training with the forwards over summer.

Scott has long liked the idea of playing two ruckmen, with Draper and Nick Bryan having featured alongside each other in the final four rounds of last season.

Draper kicked six goals across that final month of home-and-away matches and booted three majors during intra-club match simulation last Saturday.

“He’s been good down forward, kicking goals and taking some nice marks down there,” Bryan said of Draper.

“He’s been working hard on his forward craft.”

Sam Draper has spent plenty of time training as a forward in pre-season. Picture: Mark Stewart

A former Parade College schoolmate of Caddy’s – Isaac Kako – has also impressed in attack across his first pre-season.

“He’s worked hard ever since he’s walked in the door and he’s really exciting,” Gresham said of the fellow small forward.

“He wants to learn so I can’t wait to see what he can do this year.”

Langford said Kako was putting his hand up for an early-season debut, as the Bombers prepare to open their campaign against the Gold Coast Suns on March 8.

“He’s got a ready-built body and he’s quite a fit young man,” Langford said.

“There’s no doubting his talent and I’d love to see him next to me.

“Even throughout the off-season, I had just a minor knee surgery and he was in here doing rehab. I was just amazed that he was in here every single day doing his rehab, which not a lot of other 17-year-old boys would be doing. I said to our physio staff before we even took him (in the draft), ‘He’s more professional than a lot of our players’. So I was really excited when I knew we were changing a few things around to try and get him.”

AFL analyst Mick McGuane recently ranked Essendon as having the fifth-worst forward line in the competition.

The assessment is hard to argue against, given what was produced last season and the loss of Stringer.

But it is clear that is not all about this year for Scott and the Bombers – and there won’t be many tears shed over Stringer if Caddy and Kako can find their groove at AFL level to show that the long-term future looks bright.

Originally published as Nate Caddy, Sam Draper tipped to step up to fill Essendon’s Jake Stringer void in 2025