I think this guy deserves his own thread. Last season he was one of our most important players and this season he hasn't been in our best 22. Yes, he has been injured in stages but at the beginning of the season he still wasn't selected when fit. Last season, he was one of the best running half backs in the competition and this season he is depth at best according to Goodwin. Would Hunt seek a trade at the end of this season? With lever coming back in it's not going to get any easier. I'd hate to see him leave but he could finish in the top 3 at a Best and fairest at another club so I wouldn't blame him for it. 

Where does he need to improve? Are people confident that he will be a long term player for us? Him and Frost are basically the same player except one is key position and hunt is a flanker so maybe having them both in the team would hurt too much with their foot skills?

 

I am absolutely confident he will be best 22 in the future.

Seemed to have some injury concerns at the start of the season and in pre-season which killed his confidence. Think he was also rushed back too quickly against Sydney out of necessity and wasn't ready.

I think he just needs to re-set come pre-season next year and work on doing the little things right. Confident that McCartney will get him back to his best.

8 minutes ago, Dr.D said:

I think this guy deserves his own thread. Last season he was one of our most important players and this season he hasn't been in our best 22. Yes, he has been injured in stages but at the beginning of the season he still wasn't selected when fit. Last season, he was one of the best running half backs in the competition and this season he is depth at best according to Goodwin. Would Hunt seek a trade at the end of this season? With lever coming back in it's not going to get any easier. I'd hate to see him leave but he could finish in the top 3 at a Best and fairest at another club so I wouldn't blame him for it. 

Where does he need to improve? Are people confident that he will be a long term player for us? Him and Frost are basically the same player except one is key position and hunt is a flanker so maybe having them both in the team would hurt too much with their foot skills?

 

He had a tendency to bomb the ball without thinking. He can kick well but his disposal decision making and efficiency were poor. His speed and keenness at the contest are great. It’s too late to bring him in to the team at this stage of the year. He’s also been injured for a large part of the year, which didn’t allow further runs in the seniors. I would expect he’ll get his chances next year.

Watching him at training today he just looks bereft of confidence. 

I'm not sure if this is his nature, but very quite during drills and just went through the motions. I've always thought he was an up and bubbly kind of kid through social media, but did not see any of that today.

Compare it to Bernie Vince today who was up and about and bantering with Goodwin at one stage.

Probably looking too much into it.

8 minutes ago, dazzledavey36 said:

Watching him at training today he just looks bereft of confidence. 

I'm not sure if this is his nature, but very quite during drills and just went through the motions. I've always thought he was an up and bubbly kind of kid through social media, but did not see any of that today.

Compare it to Bernie Vince today who was up and about and bantering with Goodwin at one stage.

Probably looking too much into it.

Not surprising given that his year is over and many of the team are in finals!!

He needs to develop his game. Last year was his break out year and opponents didn't have much intel on him. Now opponents are aware of the damage he can do if left in space they have shut him down. He needs to add more strings to his bow if he is going to be a best 22 player. His attack on the ball and opponent is great, but he needs to add polish to his game so he isn't just about dashing with ball in hand.

Only 23 and if my memory serves more correctly, was a late starter to footy at school. Not to mention the back issues he had early. Still learning and will hit his peak at 27, IMO. Big preseason and he'll be hard to get out of the 22.

He's had the season from hell with his injuries and form, but I hope he backs himself in to stay and work his way back in to the side. He's got the attribute set to get back there. As Frost and Weideman have both alluded to in recent interviews, sometimes you just have to put head down, bum up, work hard in the VFL and wait for your time to come. As we've seen, injuries and stuff to senior players happen - if Hunt does that, he'll make it back. 

I'd be disappointed if he cracked the sads and asked for a trade, but I don't think he will.

20 minutes ago, Dee Foxxx said:

Not surprising given that his year is over and many of the team are in finals!!

year over? he's got a vfl prelim final this sat.......or have i missed something?

His fall is not unheard of. This is a tough team to break into. I'd like to see him retained, I think another pre-season and some re-jigging of his game could see him back in the 22.

- Slight role change to start the season

- Injury set backs / couldn't put together solid string of games

- Only 23 with plenty of time and potential

He has a competitiveness that makes me confident if he can get his body right and carve out a role in this young team he will be best 22 for quite some time. Clean up his disposal and decision making and he's well on the way.

I think he was a victim of the poor defensive cohesion we had at the start of the year, everyone seemed a little off down back when Lever first came in. It seemed like some where in some way confused about their role, and once we sorted it out we went on that winning streak and since then even if someone's gone down injured the next player has come in to play a role. Hunt got injured not long after we sorted this out, and by the time he got back in he got injured again.

He's one who'll have a massive job over the preseason not only to stay fit but learn some different roles. I think he'll be fine though and will be a massive inclusion next year. 

42 minutes ago, dazzledavey36 said:

Watching him at training today he just looks bereft of confidence. 

I'm not sure if this is his nature, but very quite during drills and just went through the motions. I've always thought he was an up and bubbly kind of kid through social media, but did not see any of that today.

 

I saw him at Alice Springs Airport after the Crows game and he sat on his own for about 45 minutes with headphones on while every other player were either speaking to eachother or coach/official.

Found it very odd, doesn't strike me as the quiet type.

3 minutes ago, Jibroni said:

I saw him at Alice Springs Airport after the Crows game and he sat on his own for about 45 minutes with headphones on while every other player were either speaking to eachother or coach/official.

Found it very odd, doesn't strike me as the quiet type.

Yeah doesnt seem to mingle much with the other players. I could be looking at it on a different view through,  could be just him being focused etc.

Will be a Brendan McCartney project over the summer me thinks.

Cannot kick for nuts...

Runs freaky fast, breaks the line then either bombs it high or clangers it straight to the opposition.

Needs to learn how to slow down after the initial burst and hit target...  much like Frosty has done.   Learn his limits then he'll be a weapon 

Agree with much of the above. He's got heart, he runs hard - but sometimes his execution/decision making has let him down. Some of that could be confidence, and some perhaps injury.

Either way, I think that our backline has settled a lot in recent times - and this will help. With a good pre-season, improved fitness and a boost in confidence (fresh start, maybe a premiership team haha), I think Hunt will find a spot in our 22. With our playing style, there will always be a home for fast, driving rebounds from our HB.

24 minutes ago, Nasher said:

He's had the season from hell with his injuries and form, but I hope he backs himself in to stay and work his way back in to the side. He's got the attribute set to get back there. As Frost and Weideman have both alluded to in recent interviews, sometimes you just have to put head down, bum up, work hard in the VFL and wait for your time to come. As we've seen, injuries and stuff to senior players happen - if Hunt does that, he'll make it back. 

I'd be disappointed if he cracked the sads and asked for a trade, but I don't think he will.

Unfortunately with a winning team, they always seem to lose one a year. Generally, it's always lower teams paying a reasonable amount for them too.. I can't count the amount of Tom Gillies, Shannon Byrnes, Viv Michie's we've picked up over the journey expecting quality and getting realistically what we always thought. I think it's naive to think we won't lose someone this year and for mine, Hunt could well be that player. 

If a lower 6-7 team came with a second rounder for him (picks 24-28), I'd do it in a heartbeat. It's not to say I don't like Jayden but players do become currency and his traits are excellent but his all-round package is a player who runs so fast he really can't do anything other than blast the ball high and long. 

Let's watch this space! 

1 hour ago, Dr.D said:

this season he is depth at best according to Goodwin.

So when did Goodwin say this 'Dr'?

...because he's not getting a game it doesn't necessarily follow.

Form and injury are not the only issues kids of his age (any age really) face, there could be a lot going on in his life the we know nothing of.

Needs to fix up his disposal and learn to move laterally instead of straight lines. He tends to run too far on occasions too.

6 minutes ago, rjay said:

So when did Goodwin say this 'Dr'?

...because he's not getting a game it doesn't necessarily follow.

Form and injury are not the only issues kids of his age (any age really) face, there could be a lot going on in his life the we know nothing of.

Just joining the dots. He has played plenty of games at casey and from what I understand he wasn't injured for most of the season until the reason setback. I wouldn't want to trade him for a second rounder as someone suggested. We have 2 line breakers in our whole team. 1 is frost, and 1 is hunt. Speed is one thing you can't teach, you either have it or you don't and these guys have it. And there's probably only a dozen of them in the comp. Johanisson, Saad etc. 

1 minute ago, Dr.D said:

Just joining the dots. He has played plenty of games at casey and from what I understand he wasn't injured for most of the season until the reason setback

You come up with garbage posts, so now your reading Goodwin's mind eh.

Disclaimer - Big Footy

I was lurking on the Norf board the other day to see what they were saying re Preuss trade rumour. One poster suggested they'd want Hunt in return. Another person shut that idea down based on what he'd "heard" re some off field issues. He elaborated when pressed but I'm not going to give it air and repeat it here because it's probably horse [censored]. And because Norf flogs & Big Footy.

I'm sure if anyone is interested they could find it, however

i'd like to see what a team would pay for him? if it got us back into the first round, let our recruiters pick another jet.  Let me be clear i'm happy to keep him on our list, if someone is willing to give us a top 15 pick for him, you would have to look at it.

52 minutes ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

Needs to fix up his disposal and learn to move laterally instead of straight lines. He tends to run too far on occasions too.

This.

Goodwin has said multiple times this year that Hunt had a poor preseason, and interpreting the tone of his voice, needs hunt to develop a more professional work ethic