A good start, but a long road ahead for Karmichael Hunt
Columnist By Michael DiFabrizio, 13 Jun 2010 Michael DiFabrizio is a Roar Expert
- Tagged:
- AFL, Coburg Tigers, Gold Coast Football Club, Guy McKenna, Karmichael Hunt, VfL
Karmichael Hunt of Gold Coast in action during the VFL Round 09 match between the Coburg Tigers and Gold Coast at Highgate Recreation Reserve, Melbourne. Slattery Images
Hamstring tightness may have cut it short, but Karmichael Hunt’s VFL debut yesterday at least had its moments – some good, some bad. At the end of it, the only conclusion to draw was that the NRL convert has a significant amount of work ahead of him.
Hunt lined up at full forward for Gold Coast, who were playing Coburg in Craigieburn, and the afternoon practically got off to the perfect start.
Roughly six minutes into the match, Hunt ran into some space inside 50 to get on the end of a well-timed handball, which enabled him to run in for an easy goal. Better still, as he was drilling it home he was pushed in the back – winning him a free kick, in the goal square, and his second goal.
Yep, two goals in the space of 20 seconds. There was a fair bit of luck in both of them but still, not a bad start at all.
A few minutes before that, he laid an impressive tackle close to the boundary and fifty metres out, which won him his first kick at senior level. The shot at goal went out of bounds, but it didn’t take long to realise tackling was his real strength.
There were a number of examples throughout the first half of Hunt laying strong tackles and creating pressure. The team sheet may have listed him at full forward, but he was playing more like a small forward than any key position player.
Outside of those frantic first few minutes and those tackles, however, the highlights didn’t come all that frequently. His first handball was a slick pass under pressure, but that was about it.
At one stage he gave away a 50 metre penalty for the way he returned the ball to a Coburg player, a sign that there are rules he still needs to learn.
He gave away a free kick for tackling a player without the ball, a sign that he did get frustrated by going extended periods without being involved in the game.
His involvement lessened greatly as the game progressed, a sign he mightn’t yet be prepared for the length of the game.
And of course, he came off grabbing his left hamstring in the third quarter, a sign those massive thighs mightn’t yet be prepared for this game, either.
So obviously, there’s room for improvement. He needs to get his fitness right, which will come over time. So too will his knowledge of the rules.
But few would have expected a greater output than what they saw yesterday.
For someone who’d only spent a couple of weeks training at Gold Coast, and had very limited Australian football experience before that, two goals against a VFL side – plus a few other positive signs, and in only two and a half quarters – seems like a decent enough return. For now, at least.
Gold Coast coach Guy McKenna had hoped Hunt “might grab one or two” marks playing up forward, which didn’t happen. It’d be fair to say marking would be hard to practice on your own when you’re in France, but nonetheless this is an important skill for any player, let alone a potential full forward.
So yes, Hunt still has plenty of work ahead of him to make it as an AFL player. Nothing on that front changed yesterday.
But at the very least, it’s good to finally be able to talk about him playing football for once.
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- Explore:
- AFL, Coburg Tigers, Gold Coast Football Club, Guy McKenna, Karmichael Hunt, VfL
June 13th 2010 @ 10:41pm
Karlos said | June 13th 2010 @ 10:41pm | Report comment
Coming over from Union his fitness was going to be down quite a bit rather than coming straight from the NRL. The extra weight he had for Union wouldn’t have helped and he was ONLY a fullback. Hardly a position that has a high work rate.
June 13th 2010 @ 10:53pm
BennO said | June 13th 2010 @ 10:53pm | Report comment
He was a fullback in league here but I think he played fly-half while in union over in france, so he would have been involved in a fair bit of play. Either way though, the extra bulk and the different type of fitness required will take time to adapt to.
June 14th 2010 @ 12:56am
StormGal said | June 14th 2010 @ 12:56am | Report comment
I really can’t see how his body shape will change that much even with more aerobic work and running. He might shed a few kgs, but essentially his shape will stay the same. Were the 5,000 fans that supposedly attended this game, hidden in a stand or something lol
June 14th 2010 @ 1:48pm
MattS said | June 14th 2010 @ 1:48pm | Report comment
Stormgal, don’t you realise the media have to announce something decent. It was stated all week in the media what a big crowd the game would draw. Well, by appearances, it didn’t.
But then again we wouldn’t want a bunch of AFL supporters jumping into the yarra screaming ” but we live for our big crowds..” would we?
June 14th 2010 @ 4:25pm
Mister Football said | June 14th 2010 @ 4:25pm | Report comment
5,000 looks pretty spread out in a big aussie rules ground.
June 15th 2010 @ 6:12am
Michael C said | June 15th 2010 @ 6:12am | Report comment
pathetic really, ain’t it – - that some people are so ‘anti-AFL’ that they want to dispute a 5000ish crowd or not at a VFL game at Craigieburn!!!!
btw – did the above objectors only tune in for the first 5 minutes and that was it??? because there was still hundreds queing to get in……..a lot of people either couldn’t find a carpark or forgot the game would start at 1pm for the ABC broadcast.
June 14th 2010 @ 3:51pm
mushi said | June 14th 2010 @ 3:51pm | Report comment
biggest alarm bell for me was that he admitted he used to cramp up in league and union from over work – not a good sign
June 14th 2010 @ 5:02pm
Beaver Fever said | June 14th 2010 @ 5:02pm | Report comment
http://www.bigfooty.com/forum/showthread.php?p=18080081#post18080081
You’ve got to admire Karmichael for making the switch AFL regardless that he’s getting paid to much. The pressure on the bloke is enormous his got people from AFL and NRL criticizing him from all directions, his not skilled enough, he won’t make it, he shouldn’t be playing his taking a potential stars spot, his a traitor to NRL, his pay is an insult to all AFL players etc…. That’s a lot of negativity one bloke has to deal with whether it’s warranted or not. The situation will be easier for Folou given Hunt will have taken the brunt of many supporters disdain. I expected his first game to be a bit of a shocker but i don’t think it will be an indication of whether he will fail or not. It will come down to how well he can learn and adapt during the remainder of the season. Don’t underestimate the value of an AFL preseason too.
This is a good post.
June 14th 2010 @ 7:32pm
Michael C said | June 14th 2010 @ 7:32pm | Report comment
what was the NRL GF rematch crowd last week??,…..7500,…….not far off!!!