Jake Stringer’s dad slams Bulldogs’ treatment of his son as Essendon remain confident of securing trade
JAKE Stringer has all but ruled out returning to the Western Bulldogs as his father slams the club for its “disappointing” treatment of his son.
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JAKE Stringer has broken his silence as his exit from Whitten Oval gets messier by the day.
Flying out on holidays to America, Stringer said it was “highly unlikely” he would return to the Western Bulldogs next year after being exiled this off-season.
It comes on the back of Stringer’s father, John, slamming the club for their handling of his son’s departure.
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Stringer, an All-Australian and premiership forward with the Dogs, is hoping to be traded to Essendon but all but ruled out returning to the club despite having a year to run on his contract.
“Yeah, it’s not ideal,” he told Channel 9.
“I’m looking forward to getting away to America.
“I think it’s really unlikely that I end up back there but we’ll see how things play out over the next two or three days.”
Stringer’s future remains in limbo with four days to go in the AFL trade period, with Essendon the front runner for the explosive premiership Bulldog.
Stringer’s manager Paul Connors, or Connors Sports Management, has been critical of the club’s handling of the 23-year-old and Stringer’s father joined him in voicing his displeasure.
“I’ve got to say it has been disappointing,” he said.
“He’s probably been through a little bit of a public stoning so from our perspective we thought that he was obviously contracted at the Dogs and he was going to stay there.
“For them to come out publicly and say it’s time to move on it’s disappointing.
“At this stage, we’re very hopeful the Bombers will get something done.”
“It’s very easy for people to cast aspersions (and say) this has happened and that’s happened but at the end of the day you’re dealing with a human being so the last couple of weeks he’s been pretty stressed,” John Stringer said.
“He’s off to America today so we’re pretty happy for him.
“We’re probably onwards and upwards we’re thinking, maybe a change is really what he needs.”
Much speculation has surrounded Stringer and his playing future since coach Luke Beveridge last month declared he was likely to be traded.
Just days later, Stringer’s ex-partner Abby Gilmore spoke candidly with the Herald Sun about her decision to split with the footy player revelling details about his alleged affair with a teenage “homewrecker”.
She also revealed he had a gambling addiction.
Connors has urged the Bulldogs to “move on” and trade Stringer to the Bombers, his desired new home, despite the club declaring again over the weekend he could return to the kennel if no suitable trade presents.
The Bombers have offered its two second-round draft picks in this year’s draft, Nos. 25 and 30, for Stringer and remain confident it can get the deal done.
Essendon had previously offered pick No.11 — which has since been traded to GWS for Devon Smith — for Stringer and the Bulldogs’ second-round selection and a swap of later picks but were rejected.
When asked whether the Bulldogs had baulked at its latest offer, Bombers list boss Adrian Dodoro said on Trade Radio: “Not not really. I think they’re doing a little bit of work in the background to see what they can do with some picks at the moment.
“I wouldn’t say they’ve shut the door on that at all.
“We can only deal with what we’ve got,” he said.
“(Picks) 25 and 30 are good picks, two top 30 picks in any draft is a terrific outcome for any player.”
The Herald Sun reported last week the Bulldogs had attempted to do a deal with Fremantle and Richmond had turned down deal that involved swapping draft picks.
Under the proposal to the Dockers, the Bulldogs were happy to pave Stringer’s way to Essendon in exchange for the Bombers’ two second-round selections.
The Dogs then wanted to hand one of those picks and its first round selection — No.9 — to Fremantle for the Dockers’ pick five.
Richmond has picks 15 and 17 in the draft.
The Bombers are set to ramp up talks today, with the Stringer deal likely to drag on as Thursday’s 2pm deadline nears.
Dodoro confirmed Essendon tabled a deal to the Bulldogs that involved pick No.11, with the Dogs handing over Stringer and a second-round pick. The deal would have also involved a swap of later picks.
But the Dogs rejected that and the Bombers swooped on a deal for GWS’s Devon Smith.
“We did put an offer to the Bulldogs that had pick 11 in it and they declined that,” Dodoro told Trade Radio.
“(GWS list boss) Craig (Cameron) was smart enough to jump on that (for Smith).
“It’s given us Devon Smith straight away and will also help us possibly today to get Adam Saad done, so that will be two done with that pick.
“Hopefully that deal also helps us get Jake Stringer in the door this week.
“The common theme is he’s a contracted player. We don’t even know whether it’s a line in the sand moment for Jake to go back.
“We’ve done our homework, we’ve done our due diligence and we think he’ll be a pretty good fit for us and we’d like to bring him into the club.
“But by the same token there is a price to pay and there is a price you don’t want to pay and in this case we were under the impression there was a player leaving that was leaving his football club so in good faith we’re talking to the Bulldogs this week and hopefully we get a deal done.”
Connors said it would be in the best interests of both Stringer and the Bulldogs to release him despite the Dogs declaring it could welcome him back if no trade is struck given he is a contracted player.
“I just think what’s happened is, and I think it’s a new era, they call you in, they tell you they want to get rid of them and then they change their minds and put all these caveats on it,” he said.
“I just think they would like to move on without him.
“They’ve got a hard year next year if Jake is at the club and all the media are just asking questions every second day to the Dogs.
“It’s a line in the sand moment for the Dogs, I think. They need to do the deal, move on and have a great year next year and pick four gun kids who want to be at a really good club in the Dogs.”
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