Lachie Hunter

[Go_Dogs]

I've been pondering lately, where may Lachie Hunter end up playing his best football?

It appears his running is now getting to a high level, which opens up midfield opportunities for him. He's a skilful player, both by hand and foot. Despite not showing it so much last season, he's strong in the air for his size.

At times his goal kicking has let him down.

I'd be very interested to see how he'd develop playing off a back flank, to add some much needed class.

Given the lack of quality in that area of the ground, combined with Lachie's agility, and ball use, could he be an option for a role in the back half?

Thoughts?

[soupman]

I've been pondering lately, where may Lachie Hunter end up playing his best football?

It appears his running is now getting to a high level, which opens up midfield opportunities for him. He's a skilful player, both by hand and foot. Despite not showing it so much last season, he's strong in the air for his size.

At times his goal kicking has let him down.

I'd be very interested to see how he'd develop playing off a back flank, to add some much needed class.

Given the lack of quality in that area of the ground, combined with Lachie's agility, and ball use, could he be an option for a role in the back half?

Thoughts?

I don't mind it. Considering the quantity of half forwards/part time mids in our squad a new role in an area of need could be good for Hunter. He does seem to have an excellent awareness and make some very cool decisions with ball in hand.

My query though is can we afford it. I think this is the season where he starts to enter midfield rotations and despite it being our strength, I think our midfield is much shallower than people realise.

[The Bulldogs Bite]

I don't mind it. Considering the quantity of half forwards/part time mids in our squad a new role in an area of need could be good for Hunter. He does seem to have an excellent awareness and make some very cool decisions with ball in hand.

My query though is can we afford it. I think this is the season where he starts to enter midfield rotations and despite it being our strength, I think our midfield is much shallower than people realise.

I tend to agree with this.

I think Hunter needs to be played to his natural strengths which for mine is in an attacking flair. He certainly needs to improve his defensive efforts as it's one thing that currently lets him down, but I think he can cause some real damage as a mid/fwd who is able to find the ball, show composure and high footy IQ in traffic and distribute the ball well via foot. As GD said, he's good overhead for his size and can become a threat up forward with his goal nous.

Lachie has had some knockers over the past 12 months, which surprised me. He has a long way to go, but he was also the second youngest player in the competition before the Bonti draft class. For mine, he has proven he can work hard (his running capacity) whilst having all the natural ability in the world (extremely agile and smart, good skills, can jump/mark, kick goals).

I expect him to take some strides forward in 2015 and we need him to do that as a mid/fwd. Perhaps even overtake Dahlhaus' role from this season. Dahl is a better forward but I think Lachie will be a better mid with his class/composure/footy smarts, which Dahl lacks a bit.

[Torpedo]

Lachie turns 20 in three days. Has all the instincts of a natural footballer. Very Good mark for his size. Needs to improve his set goal kicking along with Dahl (Bruce Macavaney's love child).
If he continues to develop athletically he will be a very good contributor in mid/forward mix. A little bit of mongrel and swag in him too, which is always good to see in a forward.

[SonofScray]

Strong hands, creative and has a capacity to sniff a goal. Midfield - half forward - forward pocket for me. Too dangerous scoreboard wise to have too far away from the big sticks.

[GVGjr]

I'm confident he will have a good season and I see him more as a forward but certainly spending time in the middle. We also need him to kick a few goals much like Gia did.
GD made reference to his goal kicking and I think that is a valid point. He needs to convert a few more shots.

[F'scary]

there is a spot in the FP he can own, there is a spot as HFF he can own. He has opportunities, he has loads of talent - his football future is in his hands. I'm not yet sure he can play any other position. He needs to show he has a lot of mileage in his legs to be a midfielder, that's that part I'm not convinced about yet based on games to date.

[boydogs]

He's one of the best on the list for forward craft. Knowing when to lead & where, knowing where the goals are. It would be great for him to spend time in the middle and be more involved in the game as he is quite skillful but I think the backline would be a waste

[F'scary]

He's one of the best on the list for forward craft. Knowing when to lead & where, knowing where the goals are. It would be great for him to spend time in the middle and be more involved in the game as he is quite skillful but I think the backline would be a waste

I agree, but on the grounds that the backline seems to be a bit of a reach. He is versatile but not that versatile. Higgins played manfully well in 2014 as a rebounding backman but you could see it wasn't really his bag. I think it would be the same with Hunter.

[Avoid the rush]

Hope like hell he hasn't inherited his old man's hammys. He has his fathers smarts just needs time on the park to become real star I reckon.

[Webby]

Hope like hell he hasn't inherited his old man's hammy.

Or his Uncle Mark's brains...

[Greystache]

Or his Uncle Mark's brains...

Mark's his cousin... And an absolute flog. Let's hope he's more in the Jarrad mould

[Mofra]

Forward/mid for mine (the problem being we've just recruited many of the same type).

I'd expect we have 1-2 mids resting forward at all time in the near future simply because of necessity, our list make-up.

Not a fan of playing him behind the ball - he has natural forward instincts and should be played to his strengths.

[mighty_west]

Forward/mid for mine (the problem being we've just recruited many of the same type).

I'd expect we have 1-2 mids resting forward at all time in the near future simply because of necessity, our list make-up.

Not a fan of playing him behind the ball - he has natural forward instincts and should be played to his strengths.

Are they all the same type though?

Daniel to me looks as natural a midfielder as you get, Cordy is a tall defender whilst Webb looks as though he could play forward or down back.

That said, as Nathan Buckley once said, goal kicking mids are worth their weight in gold and we seem to have plenty of them to develop so I don't think I'd be calling it a problem.

[bulldogtragic]

I like him in the high half forward role in the mid term. He's got far too much talent to be a FP or defensive forward. I see Koby with that role owing to his strengthes and also his ability to turn it over and get team mates polaxed. I like the Boyd/Dahl pairing, and Stew and Crameri owning CHF. I love Lachie's footy brain, vision, smarts and good disposal. He knows where to run, where to look and set up goal assists. He has some X factor too which he can use. I see him able to play like Higgins 08-10. Able to roam between centre & full forward, and set up our forwards and hopefully get one or two himself. I'm quite bullish about what he might be able to do next year.