When Dale Morris presented debutant Lachie Hunter his first match guernsey on Etihad Stadium his advice was simple, “bring that excitement, bring everything but most importantly play your role for the team”.

The 18-year-old did not disappoint on Saturday night against Richmond, responding with a 19 possession debut game that included five marks, three tackles and a goal.

While Hunter had shown his knack for kicking goals at VFL level this season, the Western Jets’ recruit refused to focus on flashy finishing skills in his first senior game – instead relying on playing a team role to get him through.

“Coming into the game my main focus was just tackling and pressure, as all small forwards should,” Hunter said.

“And just do the basic things right, workrate and then touches and goals might follow after that.”

His effort was rewarded early, producing a goal with his second kick and having a hand in a number of scoring shots as the game progressed.

Hunter was grateful of his teammates bringing him into the game early to build his confidence, and the early touches seemed to pay dividends.

“I was real nervous going in, so it was good, I think I got a few cheapies off a few boys just to get me into the game – so that was really good to start the game,” he said.

“I was pretty nervous lining up, I didn’t think it was going to go through but it wobbled through.”

While most young players struggle to adjust to the quicker tempo of the game at senior level, Hunter said adjusting to the pace was a key focus for the 18-year-old.

“A lot of boys stressed the main thing that the difference is from VFL to AFL is the pace, that was the thing I was probably most prepared for,” he said.

“It wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be but still, it was going a lot quicker than VFL.”

The son of ex-Bulldog Mark Hunter was the Club’s fourth selection in the 2012 AFL Draft, joining Jake Stringer, Jack Macrae and Nathan Hrovat to make their debut this year.

Already the chemistry is evident between the draft class of 2012, with all four playing well together on Saturday night.