AFL star Lachie Hunter takes indefinite leave of absence from game to deal with ‘personal issues’ 

AFL star Lachie Hunter will be taking time away from the footy field to deal with ‘personal issues’.

The Western Bulldogs announced the midfielder would be taking an indefinite leave of absence to deal with ‘individual challenges’ which have affected the 27-year-old’s health and wellbeing.

‘Lachie has been dealing with some personal issues for a period of time,’ Western Bulldogs Head of Football, Chris Grant said on Tuesday night.

‘After some recent internal discussions, it has been determined and agreed with Lachie that the best course of action is for him to spend some time away from the Club while he addresses his personal issues.

‘We will continue to support Lachie during his leave of absence, with his personal wellbeing the sole focus for everyone in the immediate term.’

AFL star Lachie Hunter (pictured with wife Maddison Sullivan-Hunter) will be taking time away from the footy field to deal with ‘personal issues’

The Western Bulldogs announced the midfielder would be taking an indefinite leave of absence to deal with ‘individual challenges’ which have affected the 27-year-old’s health and wellbeing

The club confirmed Hunter would not play in the AFL or VFL during his absence.

Bulldogs captain Marcus Bontempelli said the decision was made to prioritise Hunter’s ‘health and wellbeing’. 

‘It’s obviously unfortunate with Lachie. The position at the minute is him and the club have decided together it might be a good time for him to step away for a little bit just to prioritise his health and wellbeing,’ he told Fox Footy’s AFL 360.

‘It’s been a bit of a journey these last few years for Lach, so the priority in these situations is always the health and wellbeing of the player.’

Hunter took time away from playing in July, 2020, following a four-game suspension for drink driving.

He pleaded guilty to drink driving, careless driving and leaving the scene of an accident without providing his details, after smashing into four cars in Melbourne in April, 2020.

The Bulldogs fined Hunter $5,000 and suspended him from playing for four matches.

The club confirmed Hunter would not play in the AFL or VFL during his absence

The midfielder will take time away from the sport to deal with ‘individual challenges’

His licence was suspended for 12 months and he was given another $1,000 fine but no conviction was recorded.

Hunter also stood down as vice-captain and apologised to his club, teammates, family and fans at the time.

More recently Hunter was at the centre of a tirade between Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge and Fox Sports reporter Tom Morris after their loss to Melbourne.

Ahead of the game, it emerged that Beveridge had controversially chosen not to select premiership-winning midfielder Hunter for the clash – with Fox Footy’s Tom Morris initially reporting the team news. 

Hunter was named in the side on Tuesday night, before being left out before again being a very late inclusion and replacing the injured Jason Johannisen prior to the bounce.

And Beveridge saw red and erupted at the Fox journalist, labelling him an ’embarrassment’ during an icy exchange in the post-match press conference.  

‘You’ve got the nerve to ask me a question and even be here,’ Beveridge responded to Morris’ question about the pre-game saga around Hunter.

Hunter is seen with his wife. He took time away from playing in July, 2020 following a drink-driving incident

‘You’ve been preying on us and causing turmoil within our football club by declaring our team well before it needs to be declared.

‘Is that the gutter journalist you want to be?

‘We went in with a plan, we had some late stuff go on out in the warm-up.

‘All the other stuff was according to plan right from the Sunday and somehow you’ve found out about that again.

‘We’ve got to get to the bottom of this, obviously we need to put our hand up to say there’s some leakage going on.

‘This is why the health and wellbeing in the game is caught up in all this stuff because we’ve got things to concentrate on performance-wise, we’ve got to look after our own and then you cause all this … that happens behind the scenes and names get brought up into it,’ he said.

Morris stood his ground as an unimpressed Beveridge stormed out of the press conference.

Hunter’s wife, Maddison Sullivan-Hunter, has also been open about their efforts to get pregnant through IVF.

Having gone through five rounds of IVF, Ms Sullivan-Hunter was vocal in her support for the treatment to be reinstated when elective surgery was suspended in Victoria amid Covid.

‘This is not elective. This is heartache, this is life changing trauma that leaves you irretrievably broken,’ she wrote on Instagram alongside an image of needles and fertility drugs.

‘This is a beast that makes you resent your body, leaves your relationship hanging by a thread, fractures friendships and leaves you feeling achingly alone and filled with a whole new world of loathing every time you feel self pity upon hearing of someone else’s joys.

‘No one wants to do this, this is no one’s first choice – this will forever be a last resort and now you have gone and ripped the last string of hope so many women and couples cling so desperately onto.’  

Lachie Hunter has played 167 games in the AFL since being drafted with the Bulldogs in 2012. 

Lachie Hunter has played 167 games in the AFL since being drafted with the Bulldogs in 2012