Essendon coach Brad Scott praised the performance of box office star Jake Stringer after the All-Australian produced one of the best games of his career in red and black.
The 29-year-old amassed 26 disposals, 20 contested possessions, 11 clearances, 529 metres gained and four goals in an effort that kept the Bombers in the game when they were down by 44 points at half-time.
“It’s a small sample size for me, but it is easily the best game I’ve seen him play,” Scott said post-game.
“He was great in round four against GWS, but that today – especially with what we asked him to do because Geelong are a big, strong side we asked him to get up around the ball – we asked him to compete and he had 20 contested possessions and he was really strong.
“While Jake will never make excuses, his groin injuries last year and some concussion stuff, those things really set him back in the pre-season.
“I get the frustration, you’d love to have him in great shape at the start of the season, but there were reasons why he wasn’t in perfect shape.
“I just thought today, what I was really impressed with was his effort in the contest. I thought he was fantastic in there.”
New Essendon key forward Sam Weideman also starred against the Cats, kicking a career-high five goals to follow up a strong game against Collingwood on Anzac Day.
