Jayden Hunt is blossoming into one of Melbourne’s most dangerous attacking weapons
“YEAH, I’m a quirky guy.” Jayden Hunt freely admits it but on the field he’s blossoming into one of Melbourne’s most dangerous weapons.
Melbourne
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JAYDEN Hunt tugged at the indicator and swerved into Luna Park.
It was Easter Saturday and Melbourne had just been rolled by Fremantle at the MCG.
Driving home, Hunt’s passenger revealed he had never been to the St Kilda amusement park and the deflated Demons defender was seeking a thrill.
In his mind it was a no-brainer.
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“I said to (my mate), ‘I’ve got to show you Luna Park. I’m a bit grumpy at the moment because we should’ve won the game, so it’ll cheer me up’,” Hunt said.
“I went on a couple of rides, had the time of my life and walked out of there with a smile back on my face.”
Fairy floss and screaming kids are different recovery methods to most, but so is Hunt.
This year Hunt placed his mother in a trolley and, on rollerblades, wheeled her to a cafe for her birthday breakfast.
The sibling challenge was to arrive on wheels which weren’t motorised, an extension from a previous year when Hunt and sister Cassie set up an obstacle course for some family fun with mum.
Hunt is the 22-year-old who plays with his long locks held back by a red and blue headband, custom-made out of op-shop material.
“Yeah, I’m a quirky guy,” he grins.
“The latest thing is I have a weird relationship with owls. I can’t go 24 hours without seeing some sort of owl, real or fake.”
And then there are his “world’s biggest” middle fingers. Unusually long, they appear photoshopped on camera and unnaturally disproportionate in real life.
Combined with skinny wrists they create a killer party trick, and former teammate James Frawley was quick to cash in on the thirst-quenching stunt.
“I can literally get my hand in a vending machine and then I can use my finger to get the bottom-right item,” Hunt said.
“In my first year Coke was bottom-right, so Frawley would always pull me aside and make me get him a free Coke.”
If you think Hunt sounds like a fun-loving larrikin complete with a cheeky smile and bubbly personality, you’re right. If you think he’s always had that spunk, you’re wrong.
“His first year was tough (with a back injury),” former coach Paul Roos said.
“And he was a bit of a grumpy bastard. He moped around and we were like, ‘Gee, this kid’s as serious as a heart attack’.
“But when we started to see him blossom as a player, that’s when his personality came out.”
And blossom Hunt has. He needed only six games in the VFL as he came through like a comet, with Sunday marking his 26th consecutive AFL match since debuting.
The youngster has swiftly become a half-back weapon with blistering pace and a sense of adventure his hallmarks.
So just how fast is he?
Hunt doesn’t know for sure. But he ran a 10.95sec sprint in the Year 12 APS meet – off almost no preparation – and shot to an early lead in the 100m race.
“I also did a bit of private testing with a couple of (AFL) clubs. They didn’t let me know what I got over 20m, but looking at their faces I reckon I did pretty well,” he said.
The speed demon is No.6 in the AFL for metres gained (514m), only a couple of drop punts behind league supremo Dustin Martin (621m).
Hunt’s career trajectory is rising like a rollercoaster’s incline. But it was understandable Roos once pegged him as grumpy.
“When I was drafted I felt a bit out of place, a bit embarrassed to be there,” Hunt said.
“I was 6’2” (???cm) and weighed 69kgs. I hadn’t run a lap in my life or done any gym work.”
Two months out from the draft and Hunt would have laughed at the prospect of an AFL career.
He had never played TAC Cup and did his best work on the Brighton Grammar tennis court, rather than the footy oval.
Hunt’s golf handicap is seven and he has enjoyed snowboarding, skating, wakeboarding and surfing at different times.
“I love action sports,” he says.
As a Year 8 kid, Hunt was selected for the BGS first tennis line-up and he stayed in it for five years, eventually named captain.
He wasn’t in the school athletics team, but was “chucked in” two weeks before the APS meet.
“I went to house aths and smashed the bloke that was supposed to run,” he said.
It was social over serious and the same approach to school footy, even if a summer growth spurt of about 11cm helped his Year 12 pre-season.
“Suddenly I was taller, faster and stronger – everything was easier,” Hunt said.
But as the Demons scouted Hunt’s schoolmates Josh Kelly and Christian Salem, his raw pace began to stand out.
Roos credited chief recruiter Jason Taylor with the shrewd find. And Taylor revealed part-timer Robbie Barletta was the man to put Hunt on Melbourne’s radar.
Given Hunt was a speculative pick, they had to investigate him in the shadows so they didn’t alert other clubs.
Taylor didn’t phone BGS coach Robert Shaw nor did he ask Sandringham Dragons why Hunt never made their list.
Instead, a home visit was pivotal.
“He really was a young, young schoolboy,” Taylor said.
“He hadn’t been in any elite programs and he’d had a growth spurt, so it all happened quickly for him. You could sense an underlying competitiveness in him, from the interview and way he played.”
After watching Hunt’s tapes, Roos was sold.
“He had unbelievable lightning speed, and you’re trying to find something a little bit special with back-end picks,” he said.
And Hunt is now making a heck of a career in a hurry. He’s pulled a big finger out.
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