Karmichael Hunt
Karmichael Neil Matthew Hunt is an Australian professional rugby league coach and former player who is the current head coach of the Souths Logan Magpies in the Queensland Cup, as well as the Cook Islands national rugby league team.
Having played professional rugby league, rugby union and Australian rules football, Hunt was the second person in Australia to reach an elite professional level in three different football codes. He was born in Auckland, New Zealand, but has represented Australia in both rugby codes after his family emigrated there when he was aged 11.
Hunt made his debut for the Brisbane Broncos in the National Rugby League in 2004 and won the Dally M Rookie of the Year award. Primarily a, he played for Brisbane until 2009 and was part of the Broncos team which won the Grand Final in 2006. In a controversial move, Hunt chose to play for Australia instead of his native New Zealand, citing a lifelong dream of playing for Queensland in the State of Origin series. Hunt's performance in the 2006 NRL season resulted in his selection for Queensland and Australia in 2006.
In July 2009 he signed a three-year contract with Australian Football League expansion team, Gold Coast, whose inaugural season was in 2011. In 2010, while contracted to the Gold Coast, he played a season with Biarritz Olympique in the French Top 14 rugby union competition. After beginning his AFL career, Hunt was named in the Courier Mail 2011 Queensland Australian rules football Team of the Year. Overall, however, his 4-year stint in the AFL received mixed reviews, though one highlight was when he kicked the match-winning goal against which broke the club's twelve-month winning drought.
In 2015, he returned to rugby union, playing for the Queensland Reds and New South Wales Waratahs. He made his international debut for Australia in 2017 and has won six caps.
In February 2015, Hunt was arrested and charged with four counts for the supply of cocaine for personal use or to on-supply cocaine to friends and colleagues between June and December 2014.
Early life
Hunt was born on 17 November 1986 in Auckland, New Zealand, to Hans and Tera Hunt, from Samoa and the Cook Islands. He began playing rugby league at the age of four for the Avondale Wolves before moving to Australia as an eleven-year-old in 1997, the family moved to the suburb of Algester in Brisbane, Australia. Upon moving to Brisbane, Hunt played junior rugby league for the Souths club in Acacia Ridge. Hunt's childhood hero was Michael Jordan and, prior to his rugby league success, he dreamt of playing basketball in the United States.In 2000, Hunt made his representative debut with the Under-14 South–East team of the Queensland Rugby League, in the fullback position. In 2001, he became part of the Under-15 Australian merit side, and, upon seeing him play rugby league, NRL club Brisbane Broncos scout Cyril Connell offered him a scholarship with the club. Hunt accepted the Broncos scholarship and, after strong performance at Souths Acacia Ridge and Sunnybank High School, received a scholarship to the Anglican Church Grammar School.
At Churchie, Hunt switched to rugby union and was a dominant figure in the school's team, which played in the Queensland Great Public Schools competition. As a fullback, he led his team to an undefeated season in 2003, and he was one of the best players in the GPS competition. While playing rugby union at ACGS, Hunt also played for the Queensland Schoolboys rugby league team against New South Wales, in the position of. Along with Anton LaVin, he won the Bob Templeton Trophy for Queensland's leading schoolboy player. During the rugby off-season in 2003, Hunt played six matches of Australian rules football code for the ACGS school side under captain Scott Harding. During which time he was identified by Australian Football League talent manager Mark Browning as an "AFL prospect".
In 2003, Hunt was selected for the Australian Schoolboys rugby league representative team to tour New Zealand, playing three matches under coach Rod Patison. Hunt scored a try in each game and was named best back of the series. Australian Schoolboys' coaching staff predicted that Hunt was the most likely Australian schoolboy to make a debut in the NRL.
In 2004, St. George Illawarra Dragons coach Nathan Brown spoke about Hunt and a discussion he had with recruitment officer Craig Young a year earlier, when Hunt was still under contract with the Broncos. "He's a terrific player. Craig Young who scouts for us watched him play last year and said give him $80,000. I said 'where would we play him?' And he said 'wing, fullback, centre, five eighth, lock – doesn't matter because he'll play first grade and play for Australia for the next 12 years'." Hunt was questioned by police in 2009 relating to an alleged sexual assault in a Brisbane nightclub.
Rugby League career
Brisbane Broncos (2004–2009)
Debut season
Hunt's 2001 scholarship came to fruition when he joined the Brisbane Broncos' main squad at the end of the 2003 NRL season. He participated in the team's off-season training in early 2004, under the guidance of Broncos' coach Wayne Bennett, and was selected to participate in the Broncos' pre-season trial games in February. Hunt had expected to play most of the 2004 season in the Queensland Cup, the second-tier rugby league competition in Queensland. However, after Darren Lockyer's shift to the five-eighth position and Hunt playing both trial games on the wing and scoring a try in the first game against the Melbourne Storm, he was selected to make his National Rugby League debut for the Broncos in the first round of the 2004 season against the New Zealand Warriors, making him the youngest ever Bronco at seventeen. Coach Bennett's decision to name Hunt as the starting fullback was somewhat surprising, due to Hunt's original selection, the week before the match, on the interchange bench. He replaced Motu Tony in the fullback position.Hunt described Bennett and Broncos teammate Darren Lockyer as the greatest influences on his league career. With Lockyer's move from fullback to, Hunt had large shoes to fill in the position. Hunt proved to be a success for the Broncos; he played every game in 2004, missing just four minutes in total, and was the team's top try-scorer. Bennett remarked of him that "Karmichael has an attitude just like Darren Lockyer where he can make a mistake and kiss it off and just get on with the game, It's a wonderful quality to have and you'd like every player to have it. A lot of guys dwell on mistakes and it stays with them too long."
Hunt drew criticism for his style of returning the football; upon receiving the ball, he would run straight at opposition players rather than attempting to evade them. As a result, he received several high tackles, causing the Broncos to ask the NRL to protect Hunt by punishing opposition players more severely. The referees' board supported this position, and stated that fullbacks such as Hunt needed to be protected due to greater risk of injury.
The performance of the 2004 NRL rookies, including Hunt, had been much anticipated. After a few games, his peers and the media singled Hunt out as the next superstar of the game. To minimise the impact of excessive media pressure on Hunt's performance, Bennett banned him from speaking to the media. Hunt scored four tries in the Round 17 clash with the South Sydney Rabbitohs, equalling the team record. His form earned him the Brisbane Broncos and Dally M Rookie of the Year awards.
2005
At the end of 2004, Hunt signed a contract with the Broncos for an additional two years, with the intention of staying at the club for the rest of his career. On re-signing, Hunt stated, "I look around and see guys like Webbie and Locky who have been here for their entire careers, and it's something I would like to do. If I can, I want to be a one-club player too. Playing footy is not just about 80 minutes out on the field every week. For me it is a career and I want to be happy where I am, satisfied that my game is progressing and that I am learning all the time to be a better player."Bennett advised Hunt to have fun and enjoy himself like any other teenager, so that it would not affect his second year in first-grade rugby league. However, Hunt's second season was not considered as successful as his first, despite his only missing one game, a situation that the media labelled "Karmichael's second-year syndrome". Hunt was retained in the fullback position despite his perceived lack of form, which included fewer tries and fewer kick returns than in his debut season.
Hunt scored a try in each of the first two games of the season. In Round 6, he was knocked unconscious by a high tackle from a St George Illawarra Dragons player, Shaun Timmins. The following week, still suffering from the effects of concussion, he missed his first NRL game since his debut. Hunt returned a week later and scored a try in each of the next three games. However, he only scored three more tries in the remaining sixteen weeks of the season. Hunt was a part of the junior Australian representative team at the end of the 2005 season, but was not considered for the game against Papua New Guinea for personal reasons.
2006
Prior to the 2006 National Rugby League season, Wayne Bennett, backed by former Broncos halfback Allan Langer, groomed Hunt as a key play-maker, able to steer the play from the halfback position, with the intention of taking pressure off Darren Lockyer and then-halfback, Brett Seymour. In a trial match against the North Queensland Cowboys, Hunt played in the halfback position but he returned to fullback for the opening NRL game. Hunt scored two tries against the Canberra Raiders in Round 8 of the competition, following this performance with another two tries against Manly in Round 10.Hunt sustained a foot injury in the Broncos Round 15 match and was sidelined for eight weeks. While out injured, early in the morning on 30 July 2006, Hunt was at the scene of a fight outside a Brisbane night club in Brisbane's CBD. The media, notably Channel 7 and Channel 10, alleged Hunt was the instigator of the incident, claiming he squirted water on a woman. The Broncos denied he had any involvement in the incident although a woman gave his name to police. Hunt also denied involvement, insisting he was merely a bystander.
When Hunt's contract ended at the end of 2006, concern mounted as to whether the Broncos would be able to retain him. The Broncos could only offer Hunt about $200,000 a season, while other teams were able to offer him $300,000. The South Sydney Rabbitohs reportedly offered Hunt up to $500,000 a season, but despite these offers, on 29 June, he signed with the Broncos for a further three years. Brisbane Broncos chief executive Bruno Cullen announced that contract negotiations were "straightforward" and there was never any doubt that Hunt wanted to stay at the Broncos.
During Hunt's injury, Bennett moved Broncos teammate Justin Hodges to fullback and Hodges was impressive in the position. When Hunt returned to the Broncos side in Round 25 against the Parramatta Eels, he was forced to play on the wing due to Hodges' good form. Hunt and Hodges continued to switch the fullback position for the remainder of the season. Hunt missed the first week of the finals due to a hamstring problem but was able to return a week later.
The Broncos went on to reach the 2006 NRL Grand Final against the Melbourne Storm, with Hunt playing on the wing and Hodges at fullback, and Brisbane winning 15–8. After that Hunt was selected to represent Australia in the 2006 Rugby League Tri-Nations tournament, playing at fullback in the Kangaroos victory over New Zealand in the final.