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On a thread predicting where the Suns would finish in 2013, I commented that Karmichael Hunt would struggle to play regular senior football for the Gold Coast this year.
I was howled down by some of the usual suspects, but when I asked the question of exactly where he would fit, I got surprisingly little feedback.
I thought I would pose the question to a potentially wider audience.
As a base for the Suns best 22, I used the side that beat the Blues in round 22 last year.
B: Taylor Hine, Michael Coad, Jeremy Taylor
HB: Daniel Stanley, Matthew Warnock, Jarrod Harbrow
C: Kyal Horsley, Gary Ablett, Matt Shaw
HF: Jacob Gillbee, Tom Lynch, Brandon Matera
F: Alik Magin, Steven May, Campbell Brown
Foll: Charlie Dixon, Josh Caddy, Harley Bennell
I/C: Maverick Weller, Piers Flanagan, Trent McKenzie, Tom Hickey
Out of that side go Hickey and Caddy, in come Tom Murphy, Greg Broughton, Jaeger O’Meara, Jesse Lonergan, Michael Rischitelli, Nathan Bock, Zac Smith, David Swallow and possibly a couple of other youngsters who have had good pre-seasons.
Looking through the side and the logical additions, it becomes apparent that the Suns side is no longer simply full of undersized first year players.
Players like Bock, Rischitelli, Murphy, Broughton, Ablett, Brown, Warnock and Harbrow have been in the AFL system for a number of years.
On top of that, O’Meara and Lonergan are far from skinny kids. The question becomes do they need Hunt simply to add size?
On top of that, if you look at Hunt’s 2012 figures, you will see on centre clearances he averages 2.66 a game.
He will have to contend with Prestia 3.2, Smith 2.56 and a ruckman and Swallow 3.08.
On contested possesion Hunt averages 6.3, Prestia 8.14, Swallow 9.41, Smith 6.62 and Rischitelli 6.64.
On tackles Hunt averages 3.5, Presita 4.21, Swallow 3.58 and Rischitelli 4.21.
On inside 50s, Hunt averages 2.27, Prestia 2.14, Swallow 3.16 and Campbell Brown 2.29.
Hunt also ranks sixth for clangers and 19th for disposal efficiency at the Suns and 14th for one percenters.
These are hardly the figures of a man doing all the grunt work to allow the classier younger players to remain on the outside.
If you then consider Hunt’s age (26), the Suns’ premiership window and the number of future high draft picks that they could get in coming years, is playing Hunt actually in the Suns’ best interests long term?
I know a lot of people will simply see this article as me bagging Hunt because I don’t like him, but all I really want is to know how and where Hunt could fit into the Suns’ best side.
Roarers, I look forward to your answer.
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