Form not only reason behind Jake Stringer being dropped, writes Shane Crawford
SHANE Crawford believes form wasn’t the only reason the Bulldogs dumped Jake Stringer this season. But he hopes the coach’s brave call will pay off in the long run.
Shane Crawford
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IT’S time for Luke Beveridge to regift “The Package” and bring Jake Stringer back for the Western Bulldogs’ elimination final against West Coast at Subiaco on Thursday night.
That decision alone might be the difference required to bring about the Dogs’ first finals win since 2010. And just as important from a long-term perspective, it might also be the making of the man known as ‘the Package’.
Stringer hasn’t delivered as much as Beveridge would have wanted this year, and in part, that led to his surprise demotion after a disappointing performance against Collingwood in Round 21.
Stringer, 22, went back to Footscray’s VFL side for two games. The coach made a statement to his highly-talented but inconsistent forward-midfielder, but it was the same message for the rest of the team.
If you aren’t doing what the coach wants you to do, it doesn’t matter who you are, or how good you can be, you are going to pay a price.
Stringer paid that price, and learnt the lesson. Now he needs to return to the seniors.
The Dogs are desperate for goals ahead of their clash with the Eagles, and the X-factor that is Stringer might just be the man to bring about a big finals upset.
As I understand it, form wasn’t the only reason Stringer was dropped. It also centred on how he handled the shoulder injury he suffered earlier in the season.
He missed a game after hurting himself against Gold Coast, but came straight back into the side. He kicked only one goal in each of his next three games, including against the Magpies in a game that he perhaps shouldn’t have played in.
On the day of that game, Stringer was feeling a bit sore. He even had a bit of a recovery session, trying to make sure he was right to play, but he may not have been as expansive to the club about his injury concerns.
As it turned out, he was poor, and had little impact. It was only when the game was in the balance in the dying minutes that he seemed to lift his intensity and work rate.
Then Beveridge produced what was probably the second biggest selection shock of the season, aside from Collingwood’s yo-yo-ing of Travis Cloke.
Bevo has never been afraid of making a hard call. Anyone who has worked alongside Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson, as the Bulldogs coach has, knows that keeping a team or individuals on edge is an important tool.
Clarko did that with us as a playing group throughout our 2008 premiership season. No one was guaranteed a spot, and it didn’t matter whether you had played three games, or 300, the pressure was always on.
Simon Taylor was an important ruckman for us during that year, and the coach opted to give him a rest late in the season. The only problem was that Taylor’s replacement, Brent Renouf, performed so well that he kept his spot in the team. Renouf got a premiership medal; Taylor missed his chance at it, through little fault of his own.
And we will never forget how Ross Lyon dumped Nick Dal Santo and Stephen Milne back to the VFL — a move that took them to the best form of their careers.
But what that sort of ruthlessness instils is a belief that you have to do everything required of you, or run the risk of missing out. Stringer has missed out, but I’m tipping he has learnt a massive lesson.
He has the potential to be an absolute star, but there’s that word again — potential. Stringer now knows that word doesn’t mean anything to Beveridge. It is all about performance, not potential.
Still, the Dogs need him back if they want to get past week one of the finals, as they have a desperate need for his energy, his spark and his potency in attack.
Beveridge’s team has kicked 100 or more points only six times this season, and the last time that happened was back in Round 17 against Gold Coast. Last week, against Fremantle at the same ground, the Bulldogs could manage just six goals. That’s never going to win you a final.
Stringer is still young, so his inconsistency can at least in part be put down to his age. But don’t forget that Marcus Bontempelli is two years his junior, and has a greater overall influence.
Let’s hope Beveridge’s decision to give Stringer a reality check on the eve of the finals will act as a motivation for the rest of the year — and the rest of his career.
If it is, ‘The Package’ will be the player we all know he can be.
THE FINALS WILDCARDS
1. Jake Stringer (WB)
2. Gary Rohan (Syd)
3. Ben McEvoy (Haw)
4. Harry Taylor (Geel)
5. Josh Kelly (GWS)
6. Ben Brown (NM)
7. Charlie Cameron (Adel)
8. Jack Darling (WC)
GARY ROHAN (Sydney)
If speed is Hawthorn’s Achilles heel, Gary Rohan might be the man to expose it later in the finals. Good luck anyone trying to catch him when he is on the run. He has played seven finals in his career with his best performance coming in the 2014 preliminary final against the Kangaroos. His other finals haven’t been as good. But strap yourself in, we might see something special from the speedster this finals series.
BEN McEVOY (Hawthorn)
Strange choice, you might say, but the Hawks desperately need Ben McEvoy to overcome the back injury that kept him out of last week’s game against Collingwood. Given the season-ending knee injury to Jonathon Ceglar, the Hawks might not be able to win a record fourth flag in a row without McEvoy. He will come up against some of the best ruckmen in the game, and he doesn’t need to be a star, he just needs play his role both in the ruck as well as going forward to sneak a few goals. Without him, it is going to be tough.
JOSH KELLY (Greater Western Sydney)
Remember Peter Matera’s 1992 finals series? Well, I am tipping that Josh Kelly is capable of having one of those Matera-like finals series at some stage of his career- maybe even as early as this year. The one thing I am certain of is that after the 2016 finals series, there won’t be anyone who doesn’t know how good Kelly is. And Melbourne supporters might feel a bit sick about that as the Demons gave up pick two, which the Giants used on Kelly, and pick 23 in exchange for Dom Tyson and pick nine (Christian Salem).
BEN BROWN (North Melbourne)
One of my favourite players to watch these days is Benny Brown. What you see is what you get with this bloke. He works hard up the ground and never wastes the ball in front of goal. With Jarrad Waite’s hip injury, and with Drew Petrie at the end of his career, Brown is almost the Kangaroos’ No.1 option in attack now. If the Kangaroos are to advance to the second week, they need Brown to have four or five goals next to his name.
CHARLIE CAMERON (Adelaide)
Everyone talks about Eddie Betts and the tall forwards, but what about Charlie Cameron? He is one player whose defensive pressure is crucial to the Crows, and he has some real Andrew McLeod-type traits. Love the pressure he brings, and that is important in the cauldron of finals.
JACK DARLING (West Coast)
We know how good Josh Kennedy is, but if the Eagles are to push all the way through to the Grand Final again this year, they need his partner Jack Darling to have a massive finals campaign. He was a bit wobbly with his kicking last week, but if he can put that together, look out. The attention will be on Kennedy, but underestimate Darling at your own peril.
HARRY TAYLOR (Geelong)
In a team where so much attention goes to the Dangerwood duo, Harry Taylor doesn’t get as much attention as he should. He is the ultimate swingman, as we saw in the game against Richmond. He is so important to the Cats’ structure in defence, but when you have the ability to switch him forward, it makes them so dangerous, and unpredictable.
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