Essendon has been warned over who their players are associating with in the rooms after games, with concerns it’s why Jake Stringer can’t find a new AFL home.
Stringer is seeking a longer-term contract than the one-year deal he’s currently on at the Bombers, but his association with “undesirable” figures who are also close to delisted defender Nick Hind is sparking disinterest from other clubs.
AFL 360 host Mark Robinson first reported the Bombers had been warned to be “vigilant” over who they were allowing into their rooms after games.
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As he explained, “the central figure was Nick Hind.”
“AFL Integrity was alerted to a figure, or figures, in the Essendon club rooms after games who they would consider – my word, undesirable. And they rang Essendon and said we’re just warning you, just be aware, be vigilant of some of the people you’re allowing into the rooms. One of those people is friends with Nick Hind, who’s friends with Jake Stringer.
“Now he’s trying to get a new contract, and whether it’s played a roles in other clubs not looking at Jake, that’s up to other clubs to decide.
“But always when the AFL Integrity (Unit) have been moved to alert a club to be aware of someone in the rooms, it’s a pretty serious matter.”
Robinson compared the incident to 2013 when Richmond’s Jake King was told not to bring bikie underworld figure Toby Mitchell into the Tigers rooms.
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The AFL first spotted one of the people involved in the Hind and Stringer case during a ‘Roaming Brian’ segment on Channel Seven.
“It’s been the talk behind the scenes in football for the last fortnight amongst clubs that there’ve been people getting into the Essendon rooms who the AFL Integrity department have said, they shouldn’t be there,” former Collingwood president Eddie McGuire said on Nine’s Footy Classified.
Bombers great Matthew Lloyd conceded the situation was impacting Stringer’s trade prospects, flagging “this certainly isn’t gonna help him”.
Journalist Damian Barrett added: “There were people at Collingwood arguing for him heavily, and there were equally people at Collingwood saying we’re not touching him. I’d imagine today has pushed that over the edge.”
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