‘Tough’ AFL star does the unthinkable

Lachie Hunter played through the second half of the Bulldogs’ come-from-behind win with a suspected broken hand, coach Luke Beveridge has revealed.

It is believed that Hunter, who was sent for scans after the match, broke the fourth metacarpal bone midway through the contest.

Beveridge, whose decision to move Hunter onto the wing in the last term proved a masterstroke, praised the 26-year-old’s courage post-match.

“It was a pretty determined, tough effort to get through the game,” he said.

“There’s a chance that he might need a plate put in that, we’ll go and have that X-rayed now. It’s in the fourth ‘met’, the outside one, which isn’t a significant thing, but they sting, they hurt, and he had a huge last quarter, Lachie.”

Despite sustaining the injury, Hunter brushed aside the pain to run out the contest with two goals, eight score involvements and 11 kicks.

“His voice and his message was ‘nah, I’m OK’, and if you’ve had (a broken hand) before they sting a bit, so it was a great effort from him to keep playing,” Beveridge said.

Hunter’s resilience serves as a fitting example of his team’s will to keep buoyant in the face of the firm challenge posed by Carlton.

The Bulldogs kept themselves in the hunt despite trailing by 27 points late in the third quarter, which Beveridge said was key to the stunning turnaround in fortunes.

“I didn’t think, at any stage, the boys dropped their bundle,” he said.

“Carlton were pretty good. They were too efficient with their opportunities going inside 50, and we weren’t using the ball at all well going into our front half.

“(For) the boys just to see it through, it’s a very gutsy win under a fair bit of pressure, because Carlton definitely had us against the ropes.”

The Bulldogs outlasted a plucky Blues outfit on Sunday. (Photo by Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images)Source:Getty Images

Among the Bulldogs’ last-term alterations was the role of Caleb Daniel, who moved up the ground and pieced together a prolific final quarter to help spark the stirring rally.

The move shifted debutant Buku Khamis to a deeper role in a bid to help Alex Keath negate the influence of a rampaging Harry McKay, who kicked three goals in the space of nine minutes in the third quarter.

“With their threats forward, we just felt we always needed that extra bit of height. McKay’s just so hard to stop at times, and we weren’t able to with those defensive half turnovers,” Beveridge explained.

“In the last quarter obviously we changed Caleb’s role, and it was largely around some of the things around Buku and what we felt we needed as far as creativity and ball movement, and it worked out.”

Beveridge also revealed Jamarra Ugle-Hagan suffered a concussion in the Bulldogs’ VFL game earlier. It means the prized number one pick will be unavailable for selection for at least 12 days under the league’s new protocols.

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