Jake Stringer has been called out by Essendon coach Ben Rutten after a subpar performance in his return to the AFL side after a hamstring injury.
Rutten denied that Stringer lacked conditioning after the 28-year-old managed just nine disposals in Essendon’s 26-point loss to Carlton.
After a wonderful 2021 season which saw him on the verge of making the All-Australian team, Stringer has struggled to stay on the park so far this year.
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A pre-season calf injury saw Stringer’s start to the year delayed before a pair of hamstring injuries to either leg further curtailed his progress.
Despite the clash against Carlton being Stringer’s first since round seven, his coach refused to make any excuses for his star man.
“He had a poor game tonight and as a senior player for us, we need more from him.”
“Hopefully, he’ll be able to bounce out of that,” he said.
“The last couple of weeks, we had the bye, he would have played last week, but we had the bye. His preparation has been fine.”
The loss against Carlton dropped Essendon to a 2-10 record through its first 12 matches, leaving it in 16th spot on the AFL ladder ahead of only the Kangaroos and Eagles.