Rising teenage footy star Jaiden Hunter taking it all in his stride ahead of next month’s AFL draft

Athletic teenager Jaiden Hunter has spent a week in Albany catching up with family and friends in preparation for a nervous final month in the lead-up to the AFL draft on December 7. Hunter hopes to be drafted next month after a superb season playing WAFL colts with Perth that earned him a place in the WA All-Star games before he produced an impressive set of State draft combine testing results. The towering 18-year-old has spent plenty of time in Albany over the past five years, with his mother Toni Hunter and brother Matt Lehaney living and working here since 2015. He played a couple of games in the local cricket competition as a wiry teenager a few years back and last week had a run around with a local basketball team. Hunter has had six interviews with AFL clubs after shooting into draft calculations from his performances, mainly as a ruckman for Perth. This season he averaged 14.5 disposals, four marks and 34.5 hit-outs in eight colts games with the Demons and he was named in the forward pocket in the WAFL Colts Team of the Year. He played for Applecross as a junior and was then part of the first team for Aquinas College, growing up with highly touted top-five draft prospect and Demons teammate Logan McDonald. In the two recent WA All-Star games Hunter was tried at centre half-back on McDonald, his first taste of playing as a key defender. Hunter said it had been an exciting few months. “It has been nice to get down to Albany for a week and see my family,” he said. “It was good to just get a year of footy in because of COVID but then to be part of the combine and play some State games was more than I expected. “I started the season off quietly but as the year went on I realised I’m a chance but we’ll wait and see what happens in December. “It’s been an exciting period, a lot of guys I play with are really talented and haven’t got any interviews so I’m grateful to be going through the process. “Centre half-back is the position I see myself playing and the best opportunity I have to get drafted.” Hunter stands at 195cm and 84kg. He added 15kg to his frame since November last year. At the WA draft combine his 20m sprint time of 2.969 seconds was third behind Isiah Winder and Nathan O’Driscoll. “I’m keeping fit, hitting the gym lots and after trade period hopefully have a few more interviews,” he said. “I’ve shaved one minute off my 2km time as well and obviously, the position I’m playing, it’s important to keep growing physically. “I think it will be a good draft for WA, there are so many good footballers but more importantly they are good people and a lot deserved to get picked up.” Toni Hunter is the dealer principal at Albany World of Cars and said Jaiden’s maturity was a real strength. “Over the last five years he’s come to Albany on school holidays and breaks,” she said. “The State games are a different level of football and he seemed to hold his own.” “His approach for a young man at 18 is very impressive, his discipline and dedication to his training and his studies.” He will watch the draft in Perth where he lives with his father Paul.