THE SCRUTINY star forward Jake Stringer has attracted for his recent poor form is part and parcel of the game, according Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge.
Hawthorn great Dermott Brereton told SEN radio he believes Stringer wants to "play his footy without suffering any body punishment" and that he "pulls out of the contest and wants to crumb" the ball.
While not agreeing with Brereton's assessment of Stringer, Beveridge said the club was doing everything to help the 22-year-old turn his form around.
Stringer has kicked only four goals in his past four outings after kicking 33 goals in his first 15 matches this season.
"Dermott has been an amazing player and if anyone has got the credits on the board to make that judgment, it's probably him," Beveridge said.
"Derm's opinion really matters, (but) whether Jake's read that I don't know.
"That commentary is always going to be there and it's just something our players need to deal with.
"All we can worry about is looking at Jake's game (midfield and forward), looking at the areas of improvement and honing in on his strengths to bring the best out of him.
"There's no doubt we're in search of his best form at the moment."
Beveridge acknowledged a shoulder injury picked in the round 17 win over Gold Coast may have hindered Stringer in the ensuing weeks, but that was no longer an excuse.
He believes the 2015 All Australian is just a victim of his own usual high standards and consistency is the key to turning Stringer's fortunes around.
"He's a really young player, he's an All Australian in the very early stages of his career, and so what happens from week to week is that he gets a lot attention.
"When you see him kick that goal in the first quarter (against Collingwood), that really started us off and then his last 10 minutes were really valuable.
"He just needs to fill in the gaps a bit more and we'll keep continuing to work with him on it.
"He'll be the first to admit he needs to get a bit more out of himself."
One man who won't be helping Stringer out of his form slump is Brett Montgomery, after the club released the former senior assistant coach last week so he could pursue other coaching opportunities.
Beveridge said Montgomery's departure after six seasons at Whitten Oval as a mentor "hadn't been a distraction" and the coaching group was functioning well in his absence.
"We got through the week OK and match day (against Collingwood) was quite seamless," he said.
"'Monty' has been a really valuable member of our coaching group for a long time now.
"Brett is very talented and a very experienced coach who's got a great future."
