Taylor Hunt made an auspicious start to his playing career at Richmond in last Saturday’s opening round match of the AFL’s pre-season series, against the Western Bulldogs at the Whitten Oval.

Hunt, who joined the Club as a delisted free agent last November, following a 63-game career at Geelong, had 18 disposals and four tackles in a display that underlined the value he can add to the Tigers’ team.

The 24-year-old speedster appeared to thrive on a more positive, free-wheeling role, in contrast to the tagging assignments he was frequently handed (and handled so efficiently) during his time with the Cats.

Sign up as a Richmond member for the 2015 season

“I thought Taylor was nearly our best player through the day, with ‘Milesy’ (Anthony Miles) and (Shaun) Hampson,” Richmond assistant coach Brendon Lade said on the Club’s ‘Talking Tigers’ podcast.

“We don’t want to make him a tagger . . . we think he’s got some good upside because of his running ability and we hope that he can play on the wing, be a bit like Brandon (Ellis).

“He can cover the ground nearly as good as Brandon . . . get up and down the ground and get the ball a little bit more. 

“At Geelong, I don’t think he got the opportunity to play like that . . . he always had a negative role.

“We’re looking forward to him not having that negative role, but there might be a stage through the year where we put him in that.”