SEED 4 – LACHIE HUNTER (MELBOURNE)

A bit of a left-field call, slotting him at number four, especially when many believe that his counterpart at Melbourne is a better overall player. However, Hunter has a knack for finding the footy and loves to get forward with it.

In his first season at the Dees, he was +2.88 on his previous numbers for the Dogs (although he was way more prolific in pre-covid times.

Still, jumping to a new club and slotting in immediately is a tough ask, and I reckon Hunter will be better for the run. How that looks for Ed Langdon, however, remains to be seen.

SEED 8 – ED LANGDON (MELBOURNE)

I mentioned him, above.

His numbers took a hit in 2023 and I reckon the Demons’ wingmen were not quite in sync.

Langdon will run all day, but I found that he was often stuck on the dead side of the ground, whilst Lachie Hunter occupied the busier side. Whether this was tactical, or just bad luck, Langdon is far too good a player to be deferring to Hunter all the time.

Was it a battle of wills? Was it Hunter just wanting the footy more? Or was it a pair of elite wingmen not working together to ensure the Dees got the best of both worlds from both?

Langdon was -1.79 disposals on his 2022 numbers, and was down over 50 metres per game in terms of distance covered with the footy. It was his lowest output since 2017 at Freo.

Those numbers don’t fill me with confidence.

In 2021 Langdon played both wings (although not at the same time) and could pick and choose which side was most effective. I recall that there were times when he stayed on the same wing all game.

Hunter plays left wing only, out wide, so that he never has to play through the middle. Langdon gets stuck on the right wing all the time and with all our kicks ins and forward entries going to the left side, the FD needs to work out a better strategy to keep Langdon more engaged in the game. His up and down running is too valuable to lose.

Nice to see that our wingers are ranked 4th (Hunter) and 8th (Langdon) and we have another three coming through in Woewodin, Howes and the Duke although not necessarily in the order.!!

27 minutes ago, DeeZone said:

Nice to see that our wingers are ranked 4th (Hunter) and 8th (Langdon) and we have another three coming through in Woewodin, Howes and the Duke although not necessarily in the order.!!

Always thought that Hunt could've been a good winger for us.

The 2021 standings: credibility gap?

17 hours ago, samcantstandya said:

Always thought that Hunt could've been a good winger for us.

Hunt had his chances there, his disposal was sub par. But yes boy does he have pace. When he took a defensive role he was more effective using his pace to stop the faster forwards, more than create play. 

32 minutes ago, Bay Riffin said:

Hunt had his chances there, his disposal was sub par. But yes boy does he have pace. When he took a defensive role he was more effective using his pace to stop the faster forwards, more than create play. 

agreed

i honestly thought his best role for us was as a lock-down defender, but his occasional brainfarts where he'd run off his man / get caught offensive side made him a liability

Nice to see LH12 get some recognition 👍🏽