Kane Cornes has criticised the current physique of Essendon forward Jake Stringer following his quiet game against Port Adelaide on Saturday.
Stringer, 25, had just five touches and went goalless in his side’s 50-point loss to the Power in what was his fifth game back from a syndesmosis injury sustained earlier in the season.
Cornes said Stringer simply had to get fitter if he wanted to improve heading into next season, saying the way he's currently presenting himself is "not good enough".
“I’ll get smashed for this and the PC brigade will come after me,” Cornes said on Channel 9’s Sunday Footy Show.
"If you're a full-time professional athlete, you don't present yourself like that. To steal (Port Adelaide coach) Ken Hinkley’s line, you get what you deserve in footy.
“That’s why he returns five disposals yesterday, he’s not fit enough. When you don’t perform and present that out of shape, you run the risk of being criticised for it.
“He needs to look at what Christian Petracca has done and what Max Gawn has done in the past if he wants to get the most out of that talent because that display of physical fitness is not good enough.”
Stringer has kicked 14 goals from an injury-interrupted nine games this season.