In the 2017 trade period, the Bulldogs dealt Jake Stringer to Essendon for picks 25 and 30.
Three years on, who has won that trade?
First, let’s look at what the Bulldogs did with those two draft picks. They sent pick 25 to Brisbane as part of the trade that brought Josh Schache to the club.
Pick 30 was also involved in a trade where they sent three second round picks to Carlton in exchange for pick 16 and pick 40 (the other half of the Schache trade).
So in the end they traded Stringer, pick 28 (Sam Taylor – GWS) and a future 2nd round pick (Luke Foley – West Coast) and received Schache and pick 16 (Ed Richards).
Stringer has played 39 games for the Bombers and has kicked 63 goals, pushing through the midfield at stages as well.
Brownlow Medallist Gerard Healy believes the trade remains up in the air, given Stringer has not reached the heights he teased during his early years at the Bulldogs.
“I don’t think at this stage (bringing in Josh Schache) has justified losing Stringer, but in reality I don’t think Stringer has damaged them by his performances at Essendon,” Healy told Sportsday.
“He’s been okay, he’s been good at times, he’s had a couple of great games, but I don’t think he’s continued that absolute upward spiral to superstardom that he was on through that 2015 to 2016 period.
“This is the exciting thing and why people push up for Essendon, Stringer is a bloke who can turn on an All-Australian year at any stage. We know he’s a good stoppage player, he can kick unbelievable goals, but it’s very difficult being a super consistent player inside 50.
“If they can just continue to get a little bit more out of him where he’s finishing in the top 3 in the best and fairest then all of a sudden you can say they’ve won that trade.”
Healy believes on paper, the Bombers look to have won the deal, but the Bulldogs bringing in Schache gives them a chance to turn it around depending on the young key forward’s development.
“If Josh Schache can continue his upward tangent, then they can get out of a deal which, when you lose a player of Stringer’s capability, history could really say you made a blue falling out with him, but he lost his way on the field and off the field, but all I know is he wasn’t the player that he was when we were comparing him to Jesse Hogan as the two up and coming guns of the forward line,” he said.
“(Stringer) makes a valuable contribution, but he hasn’t gone to superstar status. Four years ago he was a superstar, right now he’s a valuable player.
“Ultimately (the Bulldogs) had to find a way to justify that decision and Schache, getting him for unders as well, made it look better than it otherwise was going to.”
Schache has played 27 games for the Bulldogs in two years, kicking 41 goals. Richards has played 41 games since being drafted and immediately found a regular spot in the side.