Season in short:

By his own admission, Lachie Hunter didn’t have the start to season 2015 that he would have liked.

Spending much of the first half of the year in the VFL, Hunter cracked the senior side in rounds six, seven and eight.

He returned to the Footscray side, but made his way back into the AFL team in round 15 – and never looked back.

Hunter was quite possibly one of the Dogs’ most consistent players in the second half of the year, averaging 22 disposals, four marks and two tackles for the season.

He picked up a career-high 36 disposals in round 18 against Essendon, along with six marks and four tackles.

His stand-out game came against Collingwood in round 17, where he collected 32 disposals, 10 marks and one goal.

Hunter was judged best afield that day, and took home the Sutton-Rose medal.

Stat that mattered:

Hunter averaged 29 disposals from his last eight games in the season.

What they said:

“It didn’t start off how I wanted it to… It finished off really well, I was happy with how it ended up and I was able to hold my spot in the team towards the end of the year. The wing is a lot different to the half-forward role, but I think it probably suited my game a bit more.” – Lachie Hunter, September 2015

“Lachie had to work really hard to get his spot back in the team. Once he got his opportunity he saw how much playing league footy meant to him. He’s got natural talent, we all know that, but his work rate really impressed me, his ability to cover the ground and accumulate possessions but also his ability to get back and help to defend. The way he finished the year was a credit to Lachie.” – Steven King (Western Bulldogs Assistant Coach), September 2015