EFNL Division 3 2023: Warrandyte’s Hunter Hodgson stars on debut

A 16-year-old had the ball on a string in his maiden top-flight appearance for Warrandyte in the Eastern league’s Division 3 on Saturday. Remember the name ...

It was a debut to remember for Warrandyte’s Hunter Hodgson.

At just 16 years of age, Hodgson played a pivotal role in the Bloods’ nine-point win over the Whitehorse Pioneers on Saturday, gathering 21 possessions – 10 of those contested – to go with nine marks, lighting it up on the half-back flank in his maiden senior match.

Captain of the club’s colts side, Hodgson showed maturity beyond his years in his leap into the top-flight according to Warrandyte coach Paul Donahoo, finishing among the best afield.

Hunter Hodgson (second left) with his siblings prior to the match. Picture: Warrandyte FC

“As you do with the young ones, you bring them in and there’s no expectations except to go out there and enjoy it … but he didn’t look out of place one bit,” Donahoo said.

“You wouldn’t have known (he was a debutant), you’d have thought it was a 50-gamer running around out there – he slotted in well and just took it on.

“Some of them coming in just don’t have that worry about it, they just play to what they know and it was great to watch.”

And the young gun backed it up on Sunday, leading the club’s under-17s outfit to victory, kicking two goals.

Saturday’s result marks Warrandyte’s second win of the season – keeping it in touch with the finals race, sitting in seventh spot – one win and percentage from fourth.

Lachie O’Brien finished best on ground with three majors as the Bloods overturned an eight-point half-time deficit.

A victory over the in-form Pioneers isn’t lost on Donahoo – nor is the timeliness of notching another win.

“Their last month, they’ve beaten Ferntree Gully, lost to Donvale with the last kick and just got overrun by Oakleigh, so they’re one of the form sides of it,” Donahoo said.

“The understanding for us was, lose that and we go two games behind them and it makes it really hard.”

A week of “home truths” in the wash-up of the 53-point drubbing to ladder-leader Ferntree Gully the previous round served to motivate Donahoo’s charges.

“We sat down in the week leading into Whitehorse and looked at some footage … there was some really damning footage in there and it wasn’t good stuff that we were showing,” he said.

“Coming off the back of beating Fairpark then doing that, (you question) what does it look like?

“There were a few home truths and that set us up again.”

Warrandyte is away to Donvale (second) in Round 8.