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EXPLOSIVE forward Jake Stringer doesn’t want to frighten Western Bulldogs fans, but he says free-agency thinking cannot be ignored.
Emphasising that he wants to be a Bulldog for the rest of his career, the 22-year-old father of daughters Milla, 2, and Arlo, six weeks, said his future would be determined by what was best for his family.
If another club offered him $1 million a season, similar to the deal given to teammate Tom Boyd, Stringer joked that he would have to see what the Bulldogs would offer to keep him.
The seriousness of a 12-year football career, however, meant everything would have to be considered.
“Money is a factor in footy, 100 per cent it is,” Stringer told the Herald Sun. “I’ve got two kids. I’m not thinking for me, I’m thinking for those two.
“But would I want to leave the club? No way. They gave me my opportunity. Heaps of clubs were worried about my broken leg and (the Bulldogs) took a gamble on me.
“There’s also the mates and friendships I’ve created. And Bevo (Luke Beveridge) and Gia (Daniel Giansiracusa) and all the coaches ... I couldn’t think of anything worse than leaving the football club.”
Stringer and Marcus Bontempelli, 20, are considered the emerging superstars among a host of talented young Bulldogs players.
Yet they are probably earning less than a third of what Boyd, 20, is taking home. It has been reported his contract is heavily front-ended.
Stringer, who is tied to the Kennel until the end of the 2018 season, said Boyd’s contract was not an issue.
“I don’t — and I know the other boys don’t — hold any grudge or anything like that,” Stringer said. “He got the deal, the club needed a key position player and they went and got him.
“I’m happy for him to get $1 million a year, in all seriousness. Good luck to him and I’ll support him 100 per cent of the way and I’ll be a great teammate to him.
“Hopefully in five years’ time people look back and say, ‘We gave him a bit of flak early, but it’s a paid off now’. That’s what I want for him.
“You can’t get caught up in other people’s business. That’s his business, not my business.”
Stringer admitted, though, he was stunned when he learned of the deal.
“When it first came out, you say, ‘Hell, that’s a lot of money for a kid’. That’s the natural reaction. But once he came to the club and you meet him and you train with him and see him every day, he turns into one of us.”
As teammates, do they joke about the money?
“Yeah, if there’s a fine thrown up every now and then for a wrestle, there might be a few cheap shots thrown out,” Stringer said. “Or if there’s cups of coffees that need to be bought. But it is what it is. We can’t change it.”
Stringer wants to play at least until 2025.
“I want to keep playing until my body doesn’t allow me to,” he said. “I’d like to think I’d get a good 14 or 15 years out of myself.”
EXPLOSIVE forward Jake Stringer doesn’t want to frighten Western Bulldogs fans, but he says free-agency thinking cannot be ignored.
Emphasising that he wants to be a Bulldog for the rest of his career, the 22-year-old father of daughters Milla, 2, and Arlo, six weeks, said his future would be determined by what was best for his family.
If another club offered him $1 million a season, similar to the deal given to teammate Tom Boyd, Stringer joked that he would have to see what the Bulldogs would offer to keep him.
The seriousness of a 12-year football career, however, meant everything would have to be considered.
“Money is a factor in footy, 100 per cent it is,” Stringer told the Herald Sun. “I’ve got two kids. I’m not thinking for me, I’m thinking for those two.
“But would I want to leave the club? No way. They gave me my opportunity. Heaps of clubs were worried about my broken leg and (the Bulldogs) took a gamble on me.
“There’s also the mates and friendships I’ve created. And Bevo (Luke Beveridge) and Gia (Daniel Giansiracusa) and all the coaches ... I couldn’t think of anything worse than leaving the football club.”
Stringer and Marcus Bontempelli, 20, are considered the emerging superstars among a host of talented young Bulldogs players.
Yet they are probably earning less than a third of what Boyd, 20, is taking home. It has been reported his contract is heavily front-ended.
Stringer, who is tied to the Kennel until the end of the 2018 season, said Boyd’s contract was not an issue.
“I don’t — and I know the other boys don’t — hold any grudge or anything like that,” Stringer said. “He got the deal, the club needed a key position player and they went and got him.
“I’m happy for him to get $1 million a year, in all seriousness. Good luck to him and I’ll support him 100 per cent of the way and I’ll be a great teammate to him.
“Hopefully in five years’ time people look back and say, ‘We gave him a bit of flak early, but it’s a paid off now’. That’s what I want for him.
“You can’t get caught up in other people’s business. That’s his business, not my business.”
Stringer admitted, though, he was stunned when he learned of the deal.
“When it first came out, you say, ‘Hell, that’s a lot of money for a kid’. That’s the natural reaction. But once he came to the club and you meet him and you train with him and see him every day, he turns into one of us.”
As teammates, do they joke about the money?
“Yeah, if there’s a fine thrown up every now and then for a wrestle, there might be a few cheap shots thrown out,” Stringer said. “Or if there’s cups of coffees that need to be bought. But it is what it is. We can’t change it.”
Stringer wants to play at least until 2025.
“I want to keep playing until my body doesn’t allow me to,” he said. “I’d like to think I’d get a good 14 or 15 years out of myself.”
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