It's now more than two years since Melbourne drafted Jayden Hunt from Brighton Grammar. Soon after, I wrote about him in The hunt for Andy's nephew and, at the time I described him as the "quintessential smoky."

 

Hunt was the gun junior who played at the same age level as Josh Kelly and Christian Salem but his development was restricted when he went through a growth spurt. This limited his football in the 16/17 age group and he missed out on making the Sandringham Dragons Under 18s squad. He excelled however, for Brighton Grammar where he was also a top sprinter and was drafted by Melbourne at pick 57 in the 2013 national draft.

 

Injuries have held him back further and he has been a fair way away from Melbourne selection. He started last year with the Casey Scorpions development league (seconds) team and made his way up to their seniors where he showed out with his pace and work around the goals and despite playing only a handful of games (7), he kicked enough goals (13) to finish equal leader in the Casey goalkicking with Max King.

 

There were some who argued that he hadn't done enough to keep his place on the list but he was offered the extra year and so far, has by all accounts looked very good at training. With his injury woes behind him, he looks to have spent some valuable time in the gym and is no longer the skinny kid who came to the club over two years ago.

 

It's not a big mystery but there's a definite question mark as to how will he fare in 2016. Is he in contention for an AFL game - will he get an opportunity in the NAB Challenge next month?

 

Saw Hunt play a few times out at Casey last season and there were occasions where he looked really impressive.  Good hands, pace and knows where the goals are. My only concern was he didn't seem to be in the play enough, going missing for long periods of time.  Hopefully another pre season and starting fully fit will see him really fulfill his potential. 

I think he might also be competing for a spot against the like of ANB and Billy Stretch who are also looking good ATM.

He's a big improver body wise which hopefully means they've fixed his back and should translate in to both improved performances and consistency at Casey. 

I'm not convinced he'll be the dashing half back flanker we recruited him for as so far he hasn't been a natural high possession winner which good back flankers are, nor has he used the ball particularly well. 

But the goals he kicked at Casey and the x factor displayed on the back of an interrupted season points towards him being a very handy half forward type who could easily come in to the AFL side. 

Early days though, he's really only catching up to where most first year players are in terms of his body and skills, 

I don't think we'll see Hunt playing as a HBF this year.  He may turn into one in time, but right now winning contested ball isn't his strong suit.  I think they'll bring him in as a forward pocket/HFF and rotate through the middle to get value out of his pace and ability to kick goals. 

I've only seen him play in person once out at Casey.  Overall he didn't do that much on the day, but he showed his speed in one play where he burst out of the pack at HB, raced down the wing with blistering speed and nailed a perfect pass to CHF on the run.  If he can show that sort of speed and poise more often he's certainly in the mix to play seniors and I really hope he does because we are desperate for pace on the outside and that is the one thing he has in abundance. 

I'll be watching Jayden with a great deal of interest in 2016.  His speed and X factor will be a great addition to our lineup if he can make the grade, and clearly our coaches saw enough in 2015 to warrant a new contract, despite him having had very limited game time since he was drafted.  He has a year to prove his worth, but I have to admit that the 'then and now' photographs on another thread, and some of the recent training reports, have me a bit excited.  A tantalizing prospect!

30 minutes ago, Demon Head said:

I think he might also be competing for a spot against the like of ANB and Billy Stretch who are also looking good ATM.

And isn't it great to have youngsters competing for places.  ?

Still a punt ... good athlete but footy ability and ballwinning a question mark. Must take his chance this year.  MFC was generous for the extra year. 

I'm very optimistic he will make the grade, and will play games this year.

He's one of the players I'm very keen to see debut this year.

Has a mature body now, and we lack genuine pace, which he has in spades.

 

2 hours ago, spirit of norm smith said:

Still a punt ... good athlete but footy ability and ballwinning a question mark. Must take his chance this year.  MFC was generous for the extra year. 

Disagree. We are now doing what the good sides do, giving talented young players time, to develop their bodies and game.

1 hour ago, Sheppresent said:

I'm very optimistic he will make the grade, and will play games this year.

He's one of the players I'm very keen to see debut this year.

Has a mature body now, and we lack genuine pace, which he has in spades.

 

Agree with this post.  

Hunt needs to find consistency at Casey. I am hoping he can complete a good block of form and break into the Seniors side early to mid season. 

 

For some reason have liked him from the start. I think it was because of the elite speed he showed when I visited the paddock. Then I heard Shaw (school coach - AFL coach) say that he was a definite smokey to make it when he matured. Next came the late games for Casey in 2015... important goals often late in the game. I tthink he is a good investment and may get a game or two in pre-season trials and possibly a few in the real stuff!

If you can't find the ball yourself, you need to be elite with the other stuff. Apart from straight line speed, does this kid have anything else that would indicate he is an AFL level player?

I'm always a sceptic of a midfielder who is not a even a Casey firsts regular contributor, after 2 years in the system. Dont hold much hope for him.

Sounds like he's "training the house down" and is ready for a "breakout season"...

Just now, stuie said:

Sounds like he's "training the house down" and is ready for a "breakout season"...

From what I've heard and read about him he reminds me of Sam Blease.  I'm hoping he sees more success but the blistering pace, coupled with his ability to go missing for large parts of the game, doesn't exactly fill me with excitement.  I'd love him to prove me wrong though.

I coached my nephews U16 side last year with a parent from the Brighton Grammar side where Jayden and Christian Salem played.  He said that Christian was an absolute blinder and a great pickup.  Also that Jayden could be anything and maybe even better than Christian, but for the injuries which never allowed him to get on the field, and also be picked for the Sandy Dragons squad.

If his body responds, then we could have another talent from that draft.  If it doesn't then it will be yet another tale of "what could have been...."

2 minutes ago, george_on_the_outer said:

I coached my nephews U16 side last year with a parent from the Brighton Grammar side where Jayden and Christian Salem played.  He said that Christian was an absolute blinder and a great pickup.  Also that Jayden could be anything and maybe even better than Christian, but for the injuries which never allowed him to get on the field, and also be picked for the Sandy Dragons squad.

If his body responds, then we could have another talent from that draft.  If it doesn't then it will be yet another tale of "what could have been...."

and this ^^^ could be the key to him?     slowly readying his body for the modern AFL game.    some bodies apparently take some adjusting to the rigors these days.

 

I like it how the current footy dept are taking their time with our kids,  making sure they are 'more than'  just,  'cherry ripe'.

 

 

22 minutes ago, Wiseblood said:

From what I've heard and read about him he reminds me of Sam Blease.  I'm hoping he sees more success but the blistering pace, coupled with his ability to go missing for large parts of the game, doesn't exactly fill me with excitement.  I'd love him to prove me wrong though.

Feel exactly the same so far. Preseason size means nothing, can't see why people are getting excited by that and think it's going to turn his career around.

 

This story is more about a young player who has battled injury since being drafted, a player who the footy dept thinks is worth persevering with

Now fully fit, let's wait and see

15 minutes ago, stuie said:

Feel exactly the same so far. Preseason size means nothing, can't see why people are getting excited by that and think it's going to turn his career around.

 

I'll preface this comment by saying that I want ALL players on our list to make it.  While that never happens I still want to see our players succeed.

However, we are living in the era of training reports.  They are great for the off season and provide us with something footy related when there are no games on.  But they also skew our view of the players and we are more likely to get excited about them and go right over the top based on them hitting a few targets under no pressure or running a good 3km time trial.  That's all great, but it also pumps them up too much.  Then we get all disappointed when they don't reach their potential and we are quicker to bag them as our expectations have hit unrealistic levels, levels they were never capable of achieving.

I'd love Jayden Hunt to make it but I have no expectations, high or low.  I'm glad he is improving but actual football will really tell us how he's going.

1 hour ago, stuie said:

Feel exactly the same so far. Preseason size means nothing, can't see why people are getting excited by that and think it's going to turn his career around.

 

People get excited cos so many in the past couldn't put size on...

 

so the weights guy is earning his pay.

13 minutes ago, Gorgoroth said:

People get excited cos so many in the past couldn't put size on...

 

so the weights guy is earning his pay.

Do we have a different weights guy than last year?

1 hour ago, Wiseblood said:

I'll preface this comment by saying that I want ALL players on our list to make it.  While that never happens I still want to see our players succeed.

However, we are living in the era of training reports.  They are great for the off season and provide us with something footy related when there are no games on.  But they also skew our view of the players and we are more likely to get excited about them and go right over the top based on them hitting a few targets under no pressure or running a good 3km time trial.  That's all great, but it also pumps them up too much.  Then we get all disappointed when they don't reach their potential and we are quicker to bag them as our expectations have hit unrealistic levels, levels they were never capable of achieving.

I'd love Jayden Hunt to make it but I have no expectations, high or low.  I'm glad he is improving but actual football will really tell us how he's going.

There's also the phenomenon where our familiarity with the names raises our expectations and conceptions as well. We talk about them and hear about them so much that we think they're far better than they are..

 

 

I want to play devil's advocate here because there have been times over the past two years when I became a sceptic where Jayden Hunt is concerned. He hasn't put too many runs on the board but there's a reason for that - his bad run with injury. However, that's not the full story behind my scepticism.

The problem with him when he finally got going last year was the fact that he didn't lay his hands on the ball often enough. In the elimination final against Essendon last year, Hunt managed only seven touches and kicked one goal. In his first senior game of the year at Casey he kicked three goals in the second half when the Scorpions easily disposed of Geelong and he had 12 disposals. That's one more than he got in his only other double digit possession game - against the Northern Blues when he booted four goals. Therefore, his record to date is two good games against lowly opposition and five ordinary ones.

 

That record certainly didn't auger well for him and he might easily have been delisted at season's end on that basis. I think there were a few eyebrows raised when the club did that to Viv Michie but kept the lesser performed Hunt on the books.

 

The silver lining for Hunt now is the way the club has managed to build him up physically which gives him the opportunity to compete more in the physical aspects of the game. But I'm also wondering if he's managed to build up his endurance as well to go with the outstanding attribute of having pace to burn. That could be the answer to the mystery.

This will upset a few around here, but i do not rate him and can't seeing him making it at all. Should have rookie listed him instead of Viv.