Saturday night, following what was such a compelling victory over North Melbourne, the first though that came out of my head was: Who is going to come out of this team for Lachie Hunter?
It was going to be a bit of a dilemma. When you consider that aside from Bailey Smith and Laitham Vandermeer getting concussed throughout the evening, it was hard to say many players had a really bad game. Bailey Dale’s kicking was off, but he found himself in some really good spots that got him those bags of five last year. I don’t think he needs to be dropped - he's slowly getting back to form.
Then the news comes through Tuesday night that both Lin Jong will miss the next 6-8 weeks as another player falls to ankle syndesmosis - that’s three from the Doggies alone after Aaron Naughton and Josh Dunkley. And then there’s the travesty of Hayden Crozier getting a one-match suspension for sling-tackling some dwarf in North colours - who might I add, did not get concussed and played out the game. The only kind of damage he got was a cut above the eye.
Back to the matter, I took to Twitter to state that Hunter should be left out of the team for this weekend’s game against Carlton. I think by playing one more week in the reserves - if we can call it that. The responses I got following that were exactly what I would’ve expected - a mixed bag of agreements and disagreements.
I had a few people on-side with me, stating it would be impossible to drop anyone or that Hunter would not be able to crack it back in, given the way the Western Bulldogs are travelling. On the other side of the fence, there were those that said that Hunter was an out-and-out gun and needed to come straight back into the team. I have to say, both ends had compelling reasoning, and I can completely respect why those would want Hunter back in the team.
Before the injury to Jong and Crozier’s unjust suspension, I said on Saturday night that the Dogs should keep leave out so he can have an extra week just to get himself right. The thing I am concerned about is the fact that he hasn’t played a league game since March - these 12v12 scratch matches do not count - and here we are in the start of July. But because of the developments to the two gentlemen above, you’d think that he’ll come straight back into the team now.
He’s now served his four-match suspension, we can’t do anything about what he did three months ago or the fact that he’s been charged with drink driving, careless driving and failing to give his name after a collision, oh and there’s also ignoring the covid-19 protocols set out by the AFL. What’s happened has happened and all we can do now is look ahead, but I do fear that people will see his name and correlate it back to this incident - and god knows what that might do to the mental health.
I have always found him to be a bit of a ‘pro and con’ kind of player. I say this because he has really good assets about his game, and then there are assets to his game that make me want to swear at the television and if he does those things consistently enough, say like he did against Collingwood in round one, I’ll rant about him enough to all those close to me, that they can’t socially distance away from me quick enough.
He’s a wingman, so already he’s disadvantaged in terms of going in for a contest, because his job is to receive the ball from the inside midfielders - Dunkley, Macrae, Bontempelli and company - and find a way to drive it inside 50 - whether by himself or be the link in the chain of an effective play. The right way of saying this is that he’s been horribly inconsistent since the premiership year.
There are moments where comes across as a classy player and he can be a neat user of the footy. However, he also has moments where he sells his team mates into trouble with these rubbish over the top handpasses - at times it comes off well, and then the rest of the time it’s a turnover and the Dogs cough up a goal.
His shots on goal I’d say are on par with Aaron Naughton in terms of reliability and that’s a pretty ordinary thing. Naughton’s kicking has only improved slightly and even then he was plying his trade for most of his juniors as a key defender. Hunter has always been that half-forward/midfielder type. He kicked 18.9 in 2017, but 10.14 in 2016 and a combined 13.19 in both 2018-19 - fingers crossed he’s brushed up on that over the break.
Having said that, there aren’t many players that can cover the ground and get into the right spots the way Lachie Hunter can. We can talk uncontested possessions all you like - he racks them up at will, which will then classify him as a soft player. There are moments where he will dig in for the contest, but then there are other moments where he might not go in hard at all - which is where the questions about his toughness come in.
But you can’t even be a chance to become a half-decent player if you can’t get your hands to the footy consistently enough. He does that, because he knows where to be on the outside. He'll get his 28, 29, 30 touches per game by pushing up one end and then run down the other end to be on the end of about three to four touches in one play. - that’s one thing I admire in his game, there is not a flaw in his work ethic.
So, where do they play him? It’s easy to say the wing, but the facts are that the Bulldogs have thrived with other options there since the restart. Lin Jong, Laitham Vandermeer and Ed Richards have all been seen on the wings in extended minutes and all three of them have been very serviceable. We know Jong won’t play for the next month or two, the jury is out on Vandermeer this week after he was concussed and Richards you’d think keeps his spot.
Interesting to point out about what Luke Beveridge said about him post-game in regard to perhaps playing him in a different role to the one where he is accustomed to. As Beveridge puts it, it’s an interesting conundrum and really could find himself anywhere. I just don’t know what to expect on Sunday evening.
But what we do know is that since the incident, He looks like he’s worked his backside off to try and earn back the respect and trust of his teammates. By all reports, he was brilliant in the practice match with North Melbourne on Saturday and has been working more on his inside game, which might hint at both him recognising his deficiency at winning contested ball and also could see him feature in more centre bounces in the next few weeks.
Josh Dunkley is another month away from returning, Bailey Smith is in the same boat as Vandermeer - awaiting concussion tests. You’ve also got Rhylee West, Toby McLean and Pat Lipinski that were working in the middle with the likes of the mainstays - Bontempelli, Macrae and Liberatore on Saturday night and all three of those guys were very solid. So it’s a nice little selection problem for Luke Beveridge to have as they look towards four in a row.
As I close this one out, I think it’s somewhat important to remember back in 2015, when Lachie Hunter was given a three-game, club-imposed suspension for arriving late to a training session, and then was investigated by the AFL over a betting incident, which was later cleared. Also remember when he came into the Bulldogs’ team mid-season and absolutely went off on the wing that he now calls his own.
From round 17 - the game he broke out - to round 19 , he would record disposal-counts of 32, 36 and 31. He would also have another three games where he would record 28 disposals or more before the end of the season.
Yes, he has his flaws and it's guaranteed it can shit anyone to tears, but Lachie Hunter has to be in this team on Sunday evening - he is ready to redeem himself to the group and prove to the rest of us that he deserves a spot in this team.