THERE is a lot to like about Luke Dunstan. He’s tough, he’s strong, he’s rarely flustered and he’s young. In many ways he embodies St Kilda Football Club’s new direction.

After just three NAB Challenge games and one AFL match, already he is being compared to his teammate Lenny Hayes, the veteran playing a vital mentoring role in Dunstan’s development over the summer months.

“Lenny has been massive,” the NAB Rising Star nominee for round one said on Tuesday morning.

“I couldn’t have asked for much more from him and we are pretty much doing stuff every morning together now. It’s going well.”

Dunstan collected 21 disposals on debut against the Demons, while it took Hayes 19 senior matches and almost two years to eclipse that number in a game. Not that the youngster’s impressive start surprised the 34-year-old Hayes.

“From day one when he got to the club, he really wants to improve,” Hayes said.  “For a guy who is only 18 or 19, his professionalism is something that really stood out to me.”

“Every day he is coming in and trying to improve and get better and if he can maintain that throughout his career, it’s going to be a very long and successful one.”

But how did Dunstan slip through to pick No.18? While he was still highly touted prior to the draft, the 2013 South Australian captain’s round one performance suggested St Kilda acquired him at a bargain pick.

The knock on the left-footer was his lack of pace, a criticism Hayes rubbished when questioned on Tuesday morning.

“I don’t think he’s a little slow. He’s definitely got me covered which isn’t too hard. But what he does do is find the football and play tough. For a guy in his first season, in a lot of respects he’s led the way in that area.”

“He was really impressive last week,” Hayes said.

One of the most positive aspects of Dunstan’s personality, according to Hayes, is his willingness to approach senior players and ask questions.
                                                                                 

“He’s the one who sources me out a lot of the time and not the other way around. He wants to get better and he wants to learn. That’s something that doesn’t always happen with guys in their first year, sometimes you have to wait a while but you should see how driven he is.”
 Hayes is excited as ever as he embarks on his 16th season in Saints colours, but he did admit that he’s feeling his age, especially when he considers what his younger teammates were doing when he debuted in round one, 1999 against North Melbourne.

“I did talk to Luke a couple of weeks ago and I think he was four when I made my debut so that made me feel pretty old,” he said.

You can follow Tom Morris on Twitter: @tommorris32