He seemed to bulk up in the off season and it may have harmed his development while he gets used to his new body. Yeah he bombs it but that can be fixed. Seeing what Goodwin has done for players whose cards were marked on D'land ... eg JKH, ANB ... I reckon he's still got a big future at MFC.

6 hours ago, whatwhatsaywhat said:

season is not over and i can't see us willing to let him go

vince is retiring, lewis has likely one year left...the role is there for hunt to claim - he's great in the air and loves to use his run, and really needs to hit targets more often than he does of course

Without checking the record books, I think Nev and Hibbard are getting on a bit in years as well, so positions in the backline will open up over time (Jones in future seasons also).  The other thing is that apart from Hunt, Lever and Smith, we have had a pretty reasonable season injury wise for backline players. 

Hunt has wepons that are rare to come by.  Interesting to see North dump Hartung, but I think Hunt also has excellent defensive intent and execution, which I understand were Hartung's shortcomings.

I think the reality is that players often take a number of years to fully develop and play their best footy, but many on here seem to think that if they haven't made it in their first 2 or 3 sesons, they will never make it.  Similarly, I love it how some will claim players to have inherent deficiencies that will prevent them from keeping a spot on a list in the long run.  Many here put Frost and to some extent Harmes in that category.

Hunt will be back next year and his pace off half back or wing will be damaging.

Enjoyed him being a smart arse to that goon BT in roaming Brian.

7 hours ago, Redleg said:

Hunt will be back next year and his pace off half back or wing will be damaging.

Only if he learns some new tricks.

Wouldn't be anywhere near my best 22 for Round 1 2019, even if fully fit.

Won't be going anywhere unless he asks to be traded.

Was at a pre-game function before the Round 20 Gold Coast match where Josh Mahoney mentioned how highly rated he was internally, and that they were looking to get him back into their 22.

He just had a bad season is all. Started poorly and was dropped after the Richmond game. Started to build form in the VFL and was one of Casey's best in their Queens Birthday game, but injured himself at the final contest, putting himself out for 6 weeks. Finally got back for the Sydney game, only to then get injured again. The guy just needs a good pre-season.

I rank him somewhere from 11-25 in our squad, so you want to keep him, at the very least to help drive competition for spots.

11 hours ago, Mazer Rackham said:

He seemed to bulk up in the off season and it may have harmed his development while he gets used to his new body. Yeah he bombs it but that can be fixed. Seeing what Goodwin has done for players whose cards were marked on D'land ... eg JKH, ANB ... I reckon he's still got a big future at MFC.

I reckon he has slowed a little as he has bulked up in the hips/glutes. Aaron Davey I recall one year coming back from a big pre season in the gym and was noticeably bulkier and slower.

2 hours ago, Petraccattack said:

Only if he learns some new tricks.

Wouldn't be anywhere near my best 22 for Round 1 2019, even if fully fit.

Only needs one and that is better disposal. 

We have one hbf ready to finish and he is the replacement.

I would love to see him get extremely fit over the next two preseasons, and transition to a wing role. He is hard, and could definitely add some more tackling pressure to our already fierce midfield. 

I think hunt is a long term prospect, and might not hit his straps for a couple of years. 

Best case scenario, in my mind, is he becomes an Isaak Smith type winger, slightly worse skills, but much harder at the footy. 

With all our bulls in the midfield he will get plenty of ball fed to him on the outside and we can see him do a lot of damage. Kicking inside 50 and fitness will be the areas that can take him to AA squad level. 

Bump

To me if Hunt can have a big preseason he could do alot of what Gaff offers at a much cheaper price. He has plenty of improvement. The thing I like apart from his run is that he is not afraid to go for the big tackle, even to his own detriment. I remember when he knocked himself out, he was crazy brave, I really like crazy brave. I trust the FD to fix the issues with the disposal, he is smart enough

 

Hunt is a limited footballer and will never be able to do half of what Gaff does, full pre-season or not. I’m not saying there’s no role for a fully fit Hunt in our best 22 but that statement is ludicrous. 

8 minutes ago, DaisyDeeciple said:

Bump

To me if Hunt can have a big preseason he could do alot of what Gaff offers at a much cheaper price. He has plenty of improvement. The thing I like apart from his run is that he is not afraid to go for the big tackle, even to his own detriment. I remember when he knocked himself out, he was crazy brave, I really like crazy brave. I trust the FD to fix the issues with the disposal, he is smart enough

 

The only thing that Hunt and Gaff have in common is they play in the AFL.

Pretty much shows the importance of a good preseason and run with injuries. Mind you loads wrote of Brayshaw last year... they got that one wrong.

Just now, Ugottobekidding said:

Pretty much shows the importance of a good preseason and run with injuries. Mind you loads wrote of Brayshaw last year... they got that one wrong.

Personally I’m not writing off Hunt and never wrote off Brayshaw, those who did were just dumb. Brayshaw has always had skill but was unlucky with concussion and injury. Like Gaff, Brayshaw is a pure footballer. Hunt is a fast runner who is still learning the game. 

6 minutes ago, Ethan Tremblay said:

Personally I’m not writing off Hunt and never wrote off Brayshaw, those who did were just dumb. Brayshaw has always had skill but was unlucky with concussion and injury. Like Gaff, Brayshaw is a pure footballer. Hunt is a fast runner who is still learning the game. 

I never wrote off Brayshaw and quietly had a chuckle when people on here were suggesting he retire, but I never thought he would come back so well this year. Hunt's a different kettle of fish, Brayshaw has always had the right attitude no matter what has happened, Hunt I'm not so sure has that same self belief and desire. 

That said I too think that with a clean pre-season, we could be looking at next year's B&F with him being the most improved player. Look at Harmes, lot's of people on here were calling him limited and couldn't see him in our futures (I'll admit I couldn't see where he'd fit in) but look at him now. 

7 minutes ago, Pates said:

I never wrote off Brayshaw and quietly had a chuckle when people on here were suggesting he retire, but I never thought he would come back so well this year. Hunt's a different kettle of fish, Brayshaw has always had the right attitude no matter what has happened, Hunt I'm not so sure has that same self belief and desire. 

That said I too think that with a clean pre-season, we could be looking at next year's B&F with him being the most improved player. Look at Harmes, lot's of people on here were calling him limited and couldn't see him in our futures (I'll admit I couldn't see where he'd fit in) but look at him now. 

What are the rumours surrounding Vandenburg can anyone tell me please?

 

Edited October 1, 20186 yr by pinkshark

I like Hunt but similar to Frost he needs to learn to play within his limitations.

His best football was played as a lock-down defender who then turned defense into offense. He seemed to go away from that this year, to the point where he was making stupid mistakes i.e. jumping up 4th man up and not staying down. I also saw him do this in the VFL GF so I'd like to see him get this out of his game.

Might be of to Carltank if my mail is correct!

I put Brayshaw's number 10 on my jumper after his first year and I always thought he was just a clean run away from some special footy. He is a clean mover with excellent footy sense. I was surprised and pleased when Hunt produced what he did the season before last. Even during that season he still looked very one dimensional. 

I'm not going to write him off just yet though. I too thought Harmes didn't have enough in his bag of tricks and I am happy to be proven wrong on that one. Maybe with some Macca magic Hunt can produce a season like Harmes did this year. 

59 minutes ago, pinkshark said:

What are the rumours surrounding Vandenburg can anyone tell me please?

 

Could be off to the Swans, family issues, father passed away during the year, and AVB has been trying to run the family business in Canberra from here. Hope he stays. 

2 hours ago, picket fence said:

Might be of to Carltank if my mail is correct!

Speak to your postie - you've got the wrong mail.

3 hours ago, big_red_fire_engine said:

The only thing that Hunt and Gaff have in common is they play in the AFL.

OK, obviously didn't explain myself enough for the @Ethan Tremblay & co, never said he was Gaff. just that he could do some of the things that we would like him to do.  Gaff> Hunt by the length of Flemington, but what we are looking for is outside run and I think Hunt has shown enough potential to fulfill that role obviously he does not have Gaff's skill set or he would command Gaff's salary and not be stuck in the VFL. Everyone is keen to go early and definitively write off every player, I think people are going way to early on Hunt, the kid is a late bloomer, that is obvious from reading about how much he grew after school (~18yo). I for one am happy to see how preseason goes, that run is just too exciting to ignore if he can marry it up to a nice flat 25-30m kick

1 hour ago, DaisyDeeciple said:

Gaff. just that he could do some of the things that we would like him to do.  Gaff> Hunt by the length of Flemington, but what we are looking for is outside run and I think Hunt has shown enough potential to fulfill that role obviously he does not have Gaff's skill set

I don't know that many are writing Hunt off but he is an entirely different player to Gaff.

Apart from his at times haphazard ball use Hunt doesn't get a lot of it, he doesn't naturally find the ball and that's probably Gaff's biggest asset (along with the tank to get the job done).

Hunt can be a line breaker and at his best also uses his pace to put a lot of pressure on the opposition. He had a manic attack that was missing this year. Get that back & he's on his way.

On 9/12/2018 at 9:14 AM, Redleg said:

Only needs one and that is better disposal. 

We have one hbf ready to finish and he is the replacement.

Jayden needs not only better disposal, but also better (to use a golfing term) course management.

Raw golfers see the flag and try to hit it - wham!! More mature / composed golfers work their way towards it, avoiding hazards and silly errors.

Similarly, Jayden needs to either pause a little and take in his surrounds, or just look around a bit more. 

PS: I hope and feel he will pull off those refinements and become a very good cog in our gearbox.

Edited October 2, 20186 yr by monoccular

glad to see Jayden retained... He has a bit of zoom .  I see him taking over from Lewis...not  directly in role per se...but as someone who can make things happen off the half back line.  Hope he learns and gets there. Is a blast to watch.