Why the 2016 premiers would insist on a first-round draft pick after coach Luke Beveridge suggested flaws of character,personal standards and commitment and said Stringer's departure was in the best interests of the team remains unfathomable.
Added to that the unsavoury and damning assessment delivered on the eve of the grand final by Stringer's former partner and mother of his two children,which included accusations of a string of paramours including a 17-year-old fan and a gambling addiction,you'd have to wonder why Stringer's club tried to stand firm over pick No.11.
Schache is just 20 and two years ago was taken by the Lions with pick two in the national draft – a Murray Bushranger whom the Brisbane Lions insist showed no signs of becoming a"go-homer". Now the club has been struggling to raise interest in the big key forward for even a second-round pick.
Surely that will change. Our view is the club will achieve a trade and the tyre-kicking from Victorian clubs will resume in earnest over the weekend. And put an end to the unhappy saga that has damaged the images of both club and player and transformed the homesick boy from Seymour into something of a political football.
Schache has become the subject of a spat between Brisbane and Richmond that erupted in recent weeks when the Lions new list manager Dom Ambrogio accused his Tigers'counterpart Blair Hartley of distracting the already troubled young player during his second season at the Gabba.
The Brisbane view was that Richmond wooed Schache and in doing so contributed to his poor form and reduced commitment. This version also dictates that former Lions coach Justin Leppitsch stayed in touch with the player once he rejoined the Tigers as an assistant coach.
Further there was an allegation that Richmond subsequently lowered Schache's trade stocks by passing on stories alluding to his fragility involving a first-hand experience after the Tigers interviewed him.