Cats must bend on Stringer

GEELONG may have to look at trading a future first-round pick in order to bring Western Bulldogs star Jake Stringer to the club next year, according to former list management guru Chris Pelchen.

The Cats have been strongly linked to the 23-year-old premiership forward and Stringer has indicated that Simonds Stadium is his preferred destination for next season.

Pelchen said that given the Cats could currently only offer pick 20, some manoeuvring would need to be done to satisfy the Bulldogs at the trade table.

“I would suggest that if the Bulldogs are dealing with Geelong — and I say if because I think there will be multiple suitors — then they would be looking more at a selection in next year’s draft rather than this year,” Pelchen said.

“It’s clear that there is going to be significant discussion around Jake and I can understand why Geelong would have an interest in him because he can play forward and through the midfield, so he provides great versatility.

“The fact that next year’s draft is stronger, I think they (the Bulldogs) will speculate will Geelong finish as high next year, maybe not, so therefore the draft selection becomes higher.

“If I was the Bulldogs, I would be pursuing an early selection in next year’s draft and potentially a second-round pick in this year’s draft to go with it. I think that will be about what the market value would be.”

“But it will come down to whether the Bulldogs value having a future selection because I think next year’s draft is even stronger than this year’s, particularly at the top end.”

Geelong is expected to be a big player in this year’s trade period and has been linked to several high profile players, including Stringer, Giants forward Devon Smith, out-offavour Bulldog Stewart Crameri and former Cats star Gary Ablett.

Pelchen said there had been some “unfair criticism” of Geelong’s list following its disappointing exit from the finals, but added that it needed to target forwards in the off-season to take the load off Tom Hawkins inside-50.

“I think what probably let them down this year, particularly late in the year, was their lack of scoring power,” he said.

“Tom Hawkins struggled for consistency and while he provides a focal point and continues to be a big, powerful athlete, the fact he wasn’t hitting the scoreboard really hurt Geelong and they started to rely on peripheral players to contribute significantly to the score, more so than what would be considered normal at the top end of the ladder.

“So I think they really need to bulk up their forward half.”