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Jayden Hunt

London Demon
London Demon
in Melbourne Demons

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10 hours ago, London Demon said:

I am a little worried about this guy. He is clearly a special talent, ie he can do the amazing things others can only dream about.  I don't buy the line that he's just "an athlete" , who is trying to play footy.  He's a natural footballer as well as an incredible athlete.  He's fast, brave, powerful kick, manic in his tackling, handles the footy like a basketball, etc etc, I could go on.  But no doubt his development as a consistent top notch AFL player has to an extent  stalled. And that's the problem actually. I suspect he is being so coached about the disciplined things he has to do that they are all buzzing around his head on game day,  and his natural ability is being strangled. Hence his struggles.  I am not blaming the coaches - its a difficult line to walk, make him do the team first things but without curbing what comes naturally. I'm confident he that he will, in the end, find his way out of his current slump, but he needs extra careful handling. We don't want to lose him. 

He is not a natural footballer.

Good player but no natural

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    His kicking maybe the reason he doesn’t play wing, because with his pace you’d think he would as built for it.

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    I love Hunt and loved what he did last year.. i feel he has lost his instinct and confidence and a new(ish) backline mix with Lever added his place has become somewhat redundant.

    His pace is exciting and his courage unquestionable and his attitude infectious however his turnovers outweigh all that. Right now he is not in our best 22 and thats a good thing.. but if he can work back into it then it means he has fixed a few things and i hope he does.

     

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    I'd surprised if he wasn't back in our best side as soon as he regains form and confidence in the VFL. Too much pace, talent and X factor to be playing VFL all season! We need more run and carry especially at the MCG as well.

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    I hope Jayden can get back to his best? 

    I just don't understand what has gone so wrong this year? 

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    58 minutes ago, thesleepinggiant said:

    He is not a natural footballer.

    Good player but no natural

    True.

    And also hes still only 23 and played less than 50 games.     He will be fine.

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    8 hours ago, Petraccattack said:

    He should be studying his teammate Michael Hibberd.

    The art of how to be damaging off half back while also defending your man.

    That is a good point but he has been asked to be a swingman since starting at the Club and one must see that a few things might well be swimming around in this young man's head once a transitional phase of a game plan has been firmed across the team.

    Hibberd and company would be great mentors for him in such circumstances; he is a potential game-changer and his athleticism is a great asset to assist him achieve a settled role. To my mind, Hunt is a far greater team asset than the Weed, yet the Weed is given every tick of the clock to learn something. 

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    I see some parallels with Billy Stretch. Stretch was going along nicely,  then the coaching staff tried to add layers to his game, and now he is a complete mess of a footballer. 

    I suspect Hunt is also being told to improve certain parts of his game, and he is torn between playing his natural game and focusing on the advice he has been given. Hopefully he can sort himself out quickly, because he is a crucial part of the team at his best.

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    1 hour ago, DeeZee said:

    His kicking maybe the reason he doesn’t play wing, because with his pace you’d think he would as built for it.

    Those who deem Jayden to not be a natural footballer do not see, obviously, that he is a 'natural' for the wing, and I reckon you nailed it DZ. Kicking virus has crept all over our team in one form or the other. Time for the coaching methods to act. 

     

    1 minute ago, poita said:

    I see some parallels with Billy Stretch. Stretch was going along nicely,  then the coaching staff tried to add layers to his game, and now he is a complete mess of a footballer. 

    I suspect Hunt is also being told to improve certain parts of his game, and he is torn between playing his natural game and focusing on the advice he has been given. Hopefully he can sort himself out quickly, because he is a crucial part of the team at his best.

    Bingo! Dead right, poita. 

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    1 hour ago, Clint Bizkit said:

    Whilst his kicking needs to improve, I think the biggest problem is that he is always kicking while under a lot of pressure.

    A big part of that is he is very predictable with where he runs - always in straight line. For a player with his pace, he rarely has much space to execute his skills properly.

    In short, he needs to develop a sidestep so that he can shake opponents off in close to then give himself space to break away from the opposition.

    The old Stan Alves sidestep would do it!

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    His speed is a definite asset however he needs to be able to bounce the ball when running otherwise he turns it over unnecessarily.

     

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    8 hours ago, Petraccattack said:

    He should be studying his teammate Michael Hibberd.

    The art of how to be damaging off half back while also defending your man.

    He should also take a good look at Isaac Smith. I did a compare the two on Telstra app, both career averages and this season. No surprise Isaac has him covered this year in most departments but Hunt career average metres gained pips Isaac. But Isaac is 4 kicks, 2 handballs, 4 defensive acts uncontested possessions ahead of Hunt on career averages. I feel if Hunt can learn to get into space the way Smith does all aspects of his game will improve. When I look at Smith he most times has that fraction of time to deliver a good kick to teammate or goal.

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    Gees, give us a break.

    He'll be back in the side as soon as we start losing our way to the ball over the back again as we did against Geelong, Hawthorn and Richmond. 

    We've played and beaten five of the bottom six sides and the precise ball movement down back of Jordan Lewis and Christian Salem has been a feature the past two weeks.

    But as soon as we are found out for pace, as we will against top sides that move the ball long and quick, then we will all be clamouring for his recall.

    In the meantime he just needs to work on flattening his kicks - he tends to get under his long roosts Brent Grgic style.

    Further to that, the coach who encouraged him to kick torpedoes in the off season should take a fine for the team - one of the worst mistakes of all time. 

     

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    Perhaps he's just out of form?

    The coaching staff will help him learn where to position himself, as most clubs have worked out how to block his space

    Why is it, that a player who is playing at Casey, will be wearing different colours at the end of the year?

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    5 hours ago, martin said:

    Off season issues clearly having an effect.

     

    ???

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    3 hours ago, poita said:

    I see some parallels with Billy Stretch. Stretch was going along nicely,  then the coaching staff tried to add layers to his game, and now he is a complete mess of a footballer. 

    I suspect Hunt is also being told to improve certain parts of his game, and he is torn between playing his natural game and focusing on the advice he has been given. Hopefully he can sort himself out quickly, because he is a crucial part of the team at his best.

    Reports from Sunday's game that he was our best, or close to it.

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    At 23 I'd rather have him on the list than not, and then see how much correction can be made over the next couple of years. I think he's worth more to us than he is worth at the trade table.

    Edited by P-man

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    6 hours ago, Clint Bizkit said:

    Whilst his kicking needs to improve, I think the biggest problem is that he is always kicking while under a lot of pressure.

    A big part of that is he is very predictable with where he runs - always in straight line. For a player with his pace, he rarely has much space to execute his skills properly.

    In short, he needs to develop a sidestep so that he can shake opponents off in close to then give himself space to break away from the opposition.

    Yes good summary. this exactly what Hibberd does who wrong foots his opponent consistently, or times his run into open space a bit better better.

    Hunt is a weapon with speed dare and long kicking ability, but if your were to think about it  - what would he be if he had average speed?. His handballing skills are poor IMO and his kicking while average i thought had  improved this year by picking the right options.

    He looks more careful to me and perhaps gone into his shell with the thought of turnovers.

    I still think he needs to improve his kicking a bit and his handpassing A LOT then we'd have a player on our hands.

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    If speed is his only weapon and in the main that is straight line speed he will have difficulty when there are 36 players in about one sixth of the field.

    He has to reinvent himself... he's young enough and has the basic skills. Perhaps give him some midfield time at VFL level to start finding the ball again.

    Unfortunately I can see him slipping slowly out of sight but I very much hope not. Same with Billy Stretch.

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    10 minutes ago, Diamond_Jim said:

    If speed is his only weapon and in the main that is straight line speed he will have difficulty when there are 36 players in about one sixth of the field.

    He has to reinvent himself... he's young enough and has the basic skills. Perhaps give him some midfield time at VFL level to start finding the ball again.

    Unfortunately I can see him slipping slowly out of sight but I very much hope not. Same with Billy Stretch.

    Hunt is out of form, we are fortunate at the moment to have a few of these 'hybrid' players as Rawlings calls them, these include Hunt, Bugg, Garlett, Wagner, Stretch, if they get back in form, they will need to perform consistently strong at Casey to get a sniff

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    13 hours ago, Petraccattack said:

    He should be studying his teammate Michael Hibberd.

    The art of how to be damaging off half back while also defending your man.

    Loved that goal by Hibberd last weekend at a crucial time. It was like he said: this is how its done boys.

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    8 hours ago, beelzebub said:

    He's out of favour with some.

    Will be in another jumper in 19

    comeon Blz, he's not the only D's player that's been outa form this season.

    We need speed on our list, and he has truckloads of tow. 

     

    He just needs to learn to adapt to our game, and to practice lowering the eyes at training, and make sure he hits his targets there.

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    16 minutes ago, Satyriconhome said:

    Hunt is out of form, we are fortunate at the moment to have a few of these 'hybrid' players as Rawlings calls them, these include Hunt, Bugg, Garlett, Wagner, Stretch, if they get back in form, they will need to perform consistently strong at Casey to get a sniff

    Interesting Saty

    the real question is whether Hunt's form even when he had it fits the game plan.

    Stretch is often amongst our best at VFL level but just cannot turn it on at AFL level.

    Wagner... depth

    Bugg... if only he could kick straight he would be best 18 (not just 22)

    Garlett... he'll get another chance soon... he needs to make use of it.

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    Half of Hunts problem is he does not steady before he kicks. He kicks at top speed, needs to take a few steps to steady up and hit the target.

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