Essendon coach Brad Scott may have higher hopes for Sam Durham than the young gun has himself.
Speaking after his side's five-goal runaway win over West Coast on Sunday, the Bomber coach highlighted his 22-year-old big-bodied mid as an example of just how unpredictable the competition can be when players and teams are breaking out of nowhere.
"If I sat here saying, two years ago, that Sum Durham would be doing what he's doing now, no one would have believed me, even though we could see the upward trajectory he was on," Scott shared post-game.
"He's one example of how quickly things can change."
Standing 185cm, Durham plays with the size and presence of a Bontempelli-lite model, with cleanliness in heavy traffic and an overhead advantage over most opponents.
"We don't know what position to play him in at the moment... you want him pretty much wherever the ball is."
"Even our players have said he's scratching the surface a little bit with what he's capable of."
"He doesn't realise right now what he's capable of."
Another exciting young gun in Nate Caddy had the breakout performance of his two-match career, kicking the first two career goals, including the goal of the day for his opener with a boundary-line snap from a standing star on the non-preferred.
"They've got unbelievable talent these guys these days," Scott remarked
"Didn't see too many players outside of Jason Akermanis do that when I played"
Not yet 19, the Bomber fraternity can't wait to see this kid in full swing, given he is already causing trouble in a role not suited to players with his age and senior experience.
"He did what we thought he'd do. He's got elite AFL attributes," the Bomber coach added.
"Outside of maybe the ruck, it's very hard for a first-year player to come in and play as a key forward."
"Usually you're playing on key defenders who have been in the system for 10 years and are bigger, more experienced."
"But Cadds (Caddy) has got attributes that he can work around that."
The groundwork is a notable feature of his game, so much so that Brad Scott feels inclined to share the radical plan he may have in store for him.
"We watched him as a junior and thought there's potential for him to play in the midfield at some point."
"That's how good we think he is at ground level and how athletic he is. But obviously, he's a pretty strong aerial threat too."
"Hopefully we have some selection dilemmas."
Now nine and five with points clear in the top four, the Bombers face a three-week litmus test of the highest order when Geelong, Collingwood and Melbourne all come knocking with their own top-tier credentials in mind.
