Western Bulldog Lachie Hunter says that the debut performance of defender Lewis Young was one of the best he has seen, but took him slightly by surprise.
Young, who was previously a forward as a junior with Sturt and spent time at both ends in the VFL this season, took nine marks on debut – including six intercept – to be among the Bulldogs best in their win over Carlton yesterday.
Hunter told SEN Breakfast that the South Australian looked as if he had played 100 league games in defence.
“I know he’s been playing really well, and a lot of the boys said that he’s been playing exactly like that in the VFL, but as you all know often it doesn’t really translate exactly into AFL,” he said.
“But it pretty much seemed like he knew exactly how the game was going and he didn’t struggle with the speed of the game and read the ball well and came off and took a lot of marks, which is what we wanted him to do.”
Hunter said that he enjoyed seeing the first-gamer provide Carlton’s Levi Casboult with some feedback after the big Blue missed a simple goal in the final term.
“I thought it was pretty good, you don’t often see that some a first-gamer. It normally takes a couple of years to start to get into the opposition.”
Former Essendon great Tim Watson likened Young’s debut to that of in-demand Adelaide young gun Jake Lever.
“The first time I saw Jake Lever player for the Adelaide Crows, I looked at him and thought this bloke is going to be around for 200 games,” Watson said.
“This kid is exactly the same. He has time he has composure, he as awareness and he has a little bit of confidence as well. He just looked like he was made to play the game.”
Young was selected by the Dogs at pick 49 in last year’s national draft and has shown steady progression in the reserves before getting his chance.
“(He’s) a 197cm tall forward who comes from a basketball background so is still learning the game and is actually a baby of the draft because he’s a late December birth,” Sturt high performance manager Chris Trapp told Inside Football in November 2016.
“(He has) good athletic ability but will need to improve his kicking. Out of all our guys he has the most upside and could play back if that’s what a club wanted.”