Essendon coach John Worsfold to swing axe at selection amid calls for Jake Stringer to be dropped
ESSENDON coach John Worsfold will swing the axe at selection next week after the Bombers’ embarrassing loss to Carlton, while a former champion has called for high-profile recruit Jake Stringer to be dropped.
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UNDER-ACHIEVING Essendon is set to swing the selection axe ahead of Saturday’s must-win clash with Geelong, with frustrated coach John Worsfold admitting he has lost patience with his out-of-form senior players.
While Worsfold refused to individualise after Saturday’s embarrassing loss to Carlton, AFL great Wayne Carey put the blowtorch on high-profile recruit Jake Stringer, saying he must be dropped to the VFL for an extended period.
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Other players under pressure to hold their spot next week include Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti and Darcy Parish, who again had limited impact at the MCG on Saturday.
Worsfold conceded the Bombers don’t have a trademark, and must swiftly work out what they stand for as a group as the 2018 season that promised so much slides away.
He admitted several underperforming players might have to “play at a lower level until they regain the form that we need.”
“I am not going to talk on individuals at the moment, other than saying we have got a number of players that aren’t playing at the level we expect, whether it is making errors, or looking frustrated, or looking shaky with their skills,” he said.
“There are a number of players in that boat.
“We have been pretty strong to support them and back the majority of this group in over a number of weeks and, the ones that haven’t been able to get to the level we need them to, their spots will be in jeopardy.”
AS IT HAPPENED CARLTON EXTEND ESSENDON’S PAIN WITH UPSET WIN
Stringer has shown glimpses of his potential at his new club but hasn’t quite lived up to expectations.
He managed 14 disposals against Carlton on Saturday but did not kick a goal — the second week in a row he has failed to register a major — and had no impact on the game.
The former Bulldog also laid only one tackle, and was one of 12 Essendon players to have three or fewer tackles on a day in which teammate Devon Smith had a game-high 15.
Both Carey and Nick Riewoldt said on Saturday his body language was substandard.
“I very rarely criticise players. We all have bad games, we all have bad patches but it’s been going on for a while now with Stringer,” Carey said on Triple M. “I’m going back to last year when he was at the Bulldogs as well.
“He just wants the easy footy. He doesn’t want to be the lead-up player, he wants the ball out the back.
“He just wants it on his terms. I think his work rate is really down.
“He’s probably got to go back and get some confidence. He’s probably got to play VFL.
“I’m not talking for a week. I’m talking go back there and get some real solid work in, get some real confidence up at a lower level and come back in because of right now, what he’s doing at this level isn’t good enough.”
Stringer has booted 10 goals from eight games but has been held goalless in four matches.
His best performance of the season came in the win over the Power when he booted four goals from 13 disposals.
The call comes a week after Essendon great Matthew Lloyd said out of form forward Joe Daniher should also be dropped to the VFL before the Bombers revealed he has been battling a groin injury.
Essendon effectively sits three games out of the top eight, having lost six of its past seven games.
Many experts had the Bombers as top four contenders in the pre-season after the acquisition of Stringer, Smith and Adam Saad, but their season is in free-fall now.
Worsfold, who had his contact renewed until the end of the 2020 season after the Round 1 win over Adelaide, admitted the Bombers had to work out what they stand for.
“We don’t have a trademark at the moment, that would be fair to say,” he said. “We have a clean slate to create (one) ... that doesn’t happen in one game, it doesn’t happen in one quarter, it happens over a period.
“We obviously aren’t showing the level we want to be and the commitment we now have to look for — from the coaching staff, to the players, from everyone within the footy club — is ‘what is it that we want to be’, ‘who is it that we want to be’.
“We have a long, long way to go to get there.”
He backed Zach Merrett to fight his way out of a slump after Ed Curnow restricted him to 16 touches, with the Blues tagger having 24 disposals himself and kicking two goals.
He also said Brendon Goddard wasn’t fazed by at the physical attention he got from Jed Lamb in the opening term.
“I have seen many a player over the years work through this scenario and come out of it (as) better players,” he said of Merrett.
“It is a really exciting time for a young midfielder who is getting heavily tagged ... he is very, very committed to getting the best out of himself. You look at (Dayne) Zorko ... who is (almost seven years older than Merrett) ... he is learning how to deal with it still.”
Worsfold said the club would be looking at its VFL side to see which players deserve a chance, though Andrew McGrath (calf) remains in doubt for next week.
Essendon fans are fed up with their team’s poor performances this season in a year that promised so much after securing three big-name recruits over the off-season — Stringer, Devon Smith and Adam Saad.
The Bombers were tipped, after making the finals last year, to be one of the big improvers in 2018.
Bombers fans took to social media to vent their frustrationafter the game.
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— ⛽sauvignon montblanc (@barshmalex) May 12, 2018
disgraceful skills & no game plan
— Bella M (@beeheart8) May 12, 2018
We lost to a side who hasn't won in 267 days. Who decided Stringer was a good pick up? Many questions and not a lot of answers.
— Balls Down Under (@BallsDownUnder) May 12, 2018
A dirty day... a shocking day more like. No leaders, no heart, no fight...
— Mark Curran (@Mark_Curran_) May 12, 2018
Sack the coach
— worsfold out (@joedanihersmo) May 12, 2018
Week after week the boys continue to dish up mediocre lackluster frustrating footy, something needs to change. The fans and members have supported the club through a lot of dark times. I am a one-eyed don, but it is getting harder to support this club with the way you are playing
— Rhys McCallum (@Rhys_2994) May 12, 2018
@xaviercampbell grow a set of nuts. You’ve got 70,000 members and your letting woosha and the coaching staff turn our club into the laughing stock of the afl. Whoever signed Worsfold for 2 more years should be at Centrelink Monday. End of the road for me as a member
— myles cordeux (@cordeux5) May 12, 2018
Our club is a disgrace
— Daniel McNamara (@danielcmcnamara) May 12, 2018
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