ESSENDON ace Jake Stringer has opened up on a conversation he had with Bombers assistant Blake Caracella which triggered a desire to improve his fitness.<\/p>\n
In a chat in the club’s Queensland hub last year, Caracella challenged Stringer to target more midfield minutes which resulted in the 27-year-old putting in a \u201cmassive pre-season\u201d.<\/p>\n
The hard work has paid off for Stringer with the in-form Bomber signing a three-year contract extension on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt happened in the hub last year,\u201d Stringer told SEN Breakfast.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were having a couple of beers and Blake Caracella challenged me to have a big pre-season. He said, \u2018You should be having a run around in the midfield\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cI took it from there and I was like, \u2018Alright, if I want to play a bit of midfield time, I\u2019ve got to get to work\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had a massive pre-season. I employed a fella called Jack Kelly from Ballarat who wrote me out a running program and I did that for 12 weeks.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m getting the rewards now.\u201d<\/p>\n
Stringer admits he never considered a midfield role until Caracella\u2019s words of encouragement.<\/p>\n
\u201cI never really thought about playing as a mid,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was happy playing forward. It would have been nice to not play as a key forward over the last couple of years at Essendon.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt wasn\u2019t until Blake said to me if you get yourself in good shape, you\u2019ll get a run through there.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s when I was like, \u2018Alright, you need to be a bit more aerobic than powerful as a mid\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s what I went to work on.\u201d<\/p>\n
Stringer\u2019s signature completes a trio of key re-signings at Essendon after Zach Merrett and Darcy Parish also recommitted to the club.<\/p>\n
His new deal ties him to the Bombers until at least the end of 2024.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
ESSENDON ace Jake Stringer has opened up on a conversation he had with Bombers assistant Blake Caracella which triggered a desire to improve his fitness. In a chat in the club’s Queensland hub last year, Caracella challenged Stringer to target more midfield minutes which resulted in the 27-year-old putting in a \u201cmassive pre-season\u201d. The hard […]<\/p>\n