David King can’t understand why Bombers are “happy to facilitate a trade for Stringer”

SEN’s David King can’t understand why Essendon are reportedly willing to let Jake Stringer move to another club this off-season.

At this stage, Stringer has hit a trigger on his deal which ties him to Essendon for 2025, but the club are refusing to add on another year to the 30-year-old’s contract despite his wishes.

As a result, the club is allowing the forward to look around and assess his options as he pushes for a two-year contract and he’s been linked to Collingwood as a result with coach Craig McRae reportedly an admirer of the Don.

READ: Stringer reportedly telling people he’s played his last game for Dons as Pies show interest.

King discussed why he thinks the Dons aren’t making the right call on Stringer and he spoke about his potential move with Seven’s Mitch Cleary and Kane Cornes on SEN Breakfast, with Cornes agreeing with Essendon’s stance on refusing to offer more years.

Cleary: “The Bombers are happy to facilitate a trade for Jake Stringer if there's a two-year deal out there.

“But they're also happy for him to stay on the one-year deal that he signed originally and then he hit the trigger this year, so he's signed for 2025.”

King: “How many clubs would be on the phone for Jake now?”

Cleary: “It's not overwhelming, one or two if that.”

King: “It's a big risk from him to make a statement when you don't have people banging down the door to sign you, isn't it?”

Cleary: “But he's also got the one-year deal he can fall back on at the Bombers.”

King: “This is my point. If he got two at a club like Sydney, the Swans would say, ‘Well, this is how we do it, come and do it our way’, and you'll find he will do those things that he's been questioned on and they'll scoop the pool, or a Collingwood (will get him) and they'll scoop the pool.

“Surely you just address the issues rather than purge the player.”

Cornes: “I see it a little bit differently. I think it's not a bad player to make a statement with.”

One key reason why Essendon aren’t keen on offering Stringer a longer deal is reportedly his defensive running patterns as a forward.

Cleary believes it’s also why there are not many suitors forthcoming for the Don, but King thinks that the Bombers are picking the wrong fight to refuse to budge on Stringer for this one flaw as he feels the goalkicker’s positives outweigh his negatives in Essendon’s team.

“Clubs pick these sorts of fights every now and then with particular players, no one else, just that player,” King said.

“Surely this is a club-wide ethos that needs to change. It’s not just Jake.

“It's a bad spot to start (making an example) if you ask me. I think if you take Jake Stringer out of that forward line, it will expose what is actually there.

“Get him out of the joint and what’s there next year? Let's just see how impotent their forward line actually is without him down there.”

Stringer kicked 42 goals in 2024, his equal-second career-best tally for a season.