Essendon List and Recruiting Manager Adrian Dodoro is confident new recruit Jake Stringer will strengthen the Bombers midfield group in 2018.
Stringer has made his name as a forward and was named in the forward pocket in the 2015 All Australian side after booting 56 goals that season.
But the 23 year old has shown an ability to make an impact in the midfield.
He recorded 11 clearances, 28 contested possessions and six goals in a three-week burst at the start of the 2017 season.
“Obviously with Jake Stringer – the sky is the limit in terms of ability and talent … we think he can play midfield as well,” Dodoro said.
“We firmly will be aiming to put him in our midfield group.
“We’ve spoken to him about that, he wants the challenge and Hayden Skipworth (midfield coach) is going to work really closely with him.
“So we see him spending a lot of time in our midfield and obviously forward as well … he’ll be a bit of a hybrid, forward and in the midfield.”
Stringer played 89 games with the Western Bulldogs and kicked 160 goals.
He landed at the Bombers in exchange for the 25th and 30th picks in this year’s National Draft.
“He was an All Australian player two years ago and that’s not that long ago and he’s 23 years of age,” Dodoro said.
“He’s an exciting player – everyone in the industry knows how good he is and it’s just a matter of getting him through a big pre-season.
“Mentally he’s in good shape and we’re hoping that he can put his best foot forward and recapture his All Australian form.”
The Bombers signalled their interest in Stringer at the start of the trade period but it took until the final hours before the deadline for a deal to be agreed upon.
“There was dialogue with the Bulldogs all the way through,” Dodoro said.
“It did take a little bit of time to get the deal done but they were working some other deals with the picks that we were giving them.
“I wasn’t stressed at all throughout the whole process, I was confident that we were going to get it done.”
