Western Bulldogs forward Jake Stringer has revealed his intention to become a dynamic hybrid midfielder/forward similar to Dustin Martin after impressing during his stints on the ball for the Dogs so far in 2017.
The 22-year-old forward says that he focused on improving his tank over the pre-season, with the aim of being able spend more time in the middle of the ground and become a more versatile player for his side, as they aim for back-to-back premierships this year.
He says that his end goal is to become a player who spends a majority of his time in midfield with stints up forward, similar to teammate Marcus Bontempelli and Richmond star Martin.
“(Becoming a dynamic midfielder/forward) is something that I am probably aspiring to be. Bonty (Marcus Bontempelli) is at that stage where he can do that now so that is somewhere where I am trying to get my base to,” Stringer said on SEN’s Crunch Time.
“I did a lot of running with Lachie Hunter, who’s an elite runner and he’s one of my best mates. He put me through the works in the pre-season and it really set me up to be able to run out games and be able to get myself into the midfield.
“It’s just a lot of hard work that is able to get me through the midfield and get a couple of kicks…I just want to be as versatile as I can for the team.”
Stringer says that this pre-season direction had been influenced from the poor form he showed in the latter stages of 2016 after struggling to recover from a shoulder injury, which even saw him dropped to the VFL for two weeks.
“I had a tough year last year and my body wasn’t holding up either towards the back end of the year. I was fighting niggling injuries pretty much from when I missed with injury all the way through to the Grand Final,” he said.
“I don’t listen to the outside noise but I knew the second half of last year, I wasn’t playing the footy I know I can, so I knew with the work that I put in this pre-season that I knew it was only going to be matter of time before it all started to come back.”
Stringer also opened up on how he has dealt the balance between life on and off the field after separating with long-time partner Abby Gilmore last year, with whom he shares two young daughters.
He says that while he finds being away from his kids difficult, the experience he had had to endure over the past 12 months has helped him become a better all-around person, with footy providing an out from the pressure of being a single parent at such a young age.
“You obviously find it difficult, not being able to be with your kids every morning and night because I have such a strong bond with both my little girls,” said Stringer.
“That has probably been the biggest and hardest thing and I think it has made me figure out what I need to do in life and organise what I need to do in life because I need to look after them by myself when I get them.
“It definitely has made me grow up a lot quicker and even though it did when it happened when I had them, it’s probably even more so now as well.
“I’ve found that footy has become a bit of an out for me and it has probably made me hungrier I suppose in a way.”