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By now everyone has seen a replay of Karmichael Hunt’s goal, but it’s so good, it’s worth another look.
Even without considering Hunt’s unique circumstances, it’s a spectacular goal. The pass inboard had just the right weight to allow Hunt to run onto it, and with one player on his hammer, and another running up from in front, he takes just the right number of steps, steadies, and from beyond the 50-metre arc, splits the sticks at mid-post height with a kick verging on 60 metres.
The amazing thing is that pretty much every kick we have seen Hunt execute on the run so far this season has been at best nondescript, at worst terrible. So to see one right out of the box makes the football world sit up and take notice.
When we take his personal story into account, the goal looks even more special.
It’s not just the quality of the kick, it’s the nous and confidence that Hunt had to run forward and become an option, to demand the ball in an area that is often high risk for high return. If the ball had not hit Hunt’s chest, it could have resulted in a scoring opportunity at the other end within seconds.
In this case, there is a direct link between Hunt’s growing confidence, and his attitude to the game generally. The coaching staff have put their faith in him, he has had the mental strength to completely ignore the bad press of past months, absorb the instructions and encouragement from the coaching staff like a sponge, and bit by bit we allow Hunt the footballer to emerge.
Make no mistake, there will still be set backs. There will be mistakes that cost goals, lots of goals. He will come across opponents that are far too good (like Stevie Johnson), or he will have games where he can’t get anywhere near the footy.
But Hunt has the right attitude, that much is clear. He has a steely resolve. He has the sort of fierce determination and competitiveness that AFL footy demands. By this time next year, we won’t be wondering any more about Karmichael Hunt.
It has to be said that he has some flaws in his game that may never be completely rectified (most footballers have one or two weaknesses in their game).
He’s not great at taking an overhead mark, although he has become quite good at providing a contest in the air and his spoil count is quite high.
He doesn’t have much of a second effort. He’ll hit the pack hard, even very hard, which is a strength of his, but he’ll often be the last one to get back up, when a split second can mean a goal to the opposition.
Like many of his Suns teammates, he still doesn’t have the engine to run out a whole game. If he had the engine, McKenna would have used him as a run-with player by now. Both Hunt and the rest of the team faded badly in that second half. Will he be able to develop that to the requisite level? I think we’ll only know the answer to that after another pre-season and another season of AFL footy.
Not only did the stands shake on Saturday night after that monster goal, a bit of a tremor went through AFL ranks, and maybe even through the non-AFL states. The message is now crystal clear: this game is for you too.
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