Building a sense of camaraderie with his teammates has been important to Lachie Hunter in his time at the Bulldogs and he is now seeing that chemistry have a flow on effect in games.

His close friendship with Jake Stringer benefited Footscray in the VFL last weekend, with Hunter noticing the pair combine for a number of attacking passages of play.

“The people you’re closest to off the field you end up connecting to a fair bit on the field,” Hunter said.

“Jake Stringer and I were talking to Ash Hansen during the week because I think we connected about ten times last week.

“Because we are such good mates off the field, I think it ends up transferring into games.

“The more people you can do that with the better off you will be as a team and as an individual.”

While the small forward is eager to return to the seniors sooner rather than later, the biggest takeaway from his time at the kennel has been that patience and persistence are key. 

“[I was told to] just to keep doing the things that I was doing early in the year, just the chasing and the tackling which is what all small forwards need to do,” he said.

“They are the main two and the touches and goals will follow on from that.

“Nothing is going to be gained in one week, it’s just building up individual things week after week and hopefully when they all come together you end up alright.”

Playing in all bar one AFL game leading up to round eight, the 19-year-old was given a few weeks respite before returning to the VFL to rediscover some form.

Hunter credits a lift in confidence for his current form and said while he has benefited from his time at Footscray the small forward  is now eyeing a senior return.

“I had a rest for a few weeks and just freshened up and didn’t play at all and have come back through the VFL,” he said.

“It’s been good to play there, get the confidence up a little bit and I’m starting to build some good form and will hopefully push for selection soon.”

Hunter has been named on an extended bench ahead of Sunday’s clash against Melbourne, with teams to be finalised tonight.