The Mick Malthouse-Nathan Buckley arranged Collingwood marriage was at 10.30 this morning very much yesterday’s news as the AFL now welcomes on board its newest and arguably most historic recruit.
In a year in which the NRL has been reeling from one shock to the next, here’s another seismic event it could not have possibly foreseen when Brisbane Broncos, State of Origin and Kangaroos star indicated recently he was certain to be playing somewhere else from next season due to Brisbane’s salary cap constraints. But in a move that will reverberate throughout league’s corridors of power, Karmichael Hunt decided not to head down the Pacific highway in 2010 to join the Gold Coast Titans — it’s much worse than that!
At a tumultuous news conference this morning the 22-year-old Hunt in an amazing decision confirmed that he has accepted a senior playing contract with the new Gold Coast AFL franchise from 2010, when he will spend his initial season reacquainting himself with the game he played as a junior sufficiently well to attract the attention of scouts before signing to the Broncos at just 17. Gold Coast is most likely to field its young development team in next year’s secondary VFL competition before it joins the senior national league from 2011.
After competing his current NRL season before undertaking a short Rugby Union stint in Japan, he will then link up with the Gold Coast next May. His unprecedented defection — the first ever by a NRL international to the AFL, is as much a marketing coup for the Gold Coast as it’s a body blow to league.
Not only has the Gold Coast clearly with the full approval of AFL boss Andrew Demetriou pulled a massive recruiting rabbit out of the hat (although playing wise that remains to be seen), but Hunt is such a huge off-field promotional weapon for the Broncos and sponsors despite several off-field incidents in recent years. This is going to be a massive shock to Queensland league fans particularly.
With interim senior Gold Coast coach Guy McKenna by his side and a beaming club hierarchy present and presumably still barely able to believe their luck, Hunt explained today how the original audacious approach from the club’s recruiting manager Scott Clayton eventually paid off. While Hunt has fielded numerous overseas offers and bids from rival NRL clubs, this defection came with no previous hint for what is such an explosive development:
First off I would like to say I’m pretty excited with the opportunity that’s in front of me of becoming an elite AFL athlete for the Gold Coast Football Club from 2011. My time at the Broncos has been illustrious and I’ve enjoyed every moment of it. I’ve been turning up to every training session I could since I was 17. I just felt it was time for a new challenge.
As you’ve already heard, my manager got the phone call earlier on in the year by Scottie Clayton, and they offered the opportunity for me I guess to challenge myself in a different code. And I let it sit with me for the past couple of months and I only decided recently that was a path I wanted to take.
Here I am in front of yous today — but I just want to reemphasise it’s an exciting time in my life and I’m looking forward to 2011.
Needless to say the club was quick to assure the gathered media this was anything but a publicity stunt — but what it most certainly is from today is a huge shot fired across the bows of the NRL. It now remains to be seen if others NRL players with a similar dual background of having played AFL in their junior days, might also entertain similar feelings of wanting to change codes — and adjust their bank accounts.
In recent years poorly paid NRL superstars either fled Australia for bigger money contracts further afield via English Super League or overseas Rugby Union in places like France and Japan, or sought to become union converts at home.
This has met with mixed success with another ex-Bronco Lotte Tuqiri the most notable league star to switch where he went on to become a high profile Wallaby before he was recently unceremoniously dumped from his Australian contract that is now being litigated after the ARU refused to publicly divulge the reasons behind its controversial decision to end his current big-money five-year deal dating from 2007. The manner of his dismissal left a sour taste in a lot of player’s mouths, helping create mistrust on both sides of the rugby divide as the ARU flagged it was no longer willing to entice NRL stars to the code on big money deals.
But until today who would have thought the NRL’s greatest threat to trying to retain the game’s superstars on admittedly much less lucrative deals compared to what’s on offer elsewhere around the world, would emerge on its own doorstep from its most dangerous commercial rival?
As football recruiting secrets go this one is a real doozy!
Ah another column by the GCAFC head shil,in 6 months mate it will be Hunt who was he,wonder how much this little exercise has cost the AFL I,m sure hunt will enjoy sitting on a wing in Japan.
Gotta love you AFL shils I will wait till hund has his first accident in a pub toilet among other things or will the AFL be paying out for a minder as well.
There ya go Ross another career for you, looking after Hunt,shot across the bows you mug, better men than him have left and the NRL is still there, more watch it on TV, crowds up, more kids,run along and await your next handout from AFL house.
By the way weren’t you the bloke telling us how the GCAFC was overflowing with people wanting to see them play, sounds like a very big Publicity stunt to me, and a sign that the AFL is realizing they may have been sold a very big pup, I very much doubt he will play at all, if he does it will be carefully orchestrated appearances in 5 min bursts
I thought we aussie rules fans were lucky enough to be out of this intercode stuff. Oh well style over substance is almost the afl logo
This article is nothing. If Ross had bothered to follow the intercode conversion “controversy” closely he’d know that the damage to rugby league has been completely minimal, in fact non-existent. Players retiring to the English league has been happening for many years. Sonny Bill Williams left the code to go to French Rugby Union amidst great acrimony with his club (Canterbury) and the NRL and now … well he’s not missed in the least, the doggies are doing very well without him! You never hear of him anymore – a simple curiosity now. Same with Gasnier … disappeared into a black hole, now his old team (St George) is the other leading team in the comp! The same will happen to Craig Wing next year when he goes off to play kick and clap for some minor-league Japanese reserve grade rugby union club. Pick Souths to top the table next year based on this form!
Look at the players coming back. Wendell Sailor’s return to league has been pretty successful. Timana Tahu is coming back to league next year. Of all the players who went over to Super Rugby teams only Ryan Cross and Berrick Barnes are left now. Cross played junior rugby, so his adjustment to the technical demands of the union back line were far less.
Oh and Easts (that’s the Roosters for you AFL people) recruited an up and coming Sth African junior union star JP du Plessis for next year. I don’t think it’s their first junior union player either, I think they had an islander last year.
All that will happen is a week of articles about the K.Hunt curiosity when he starts playing then as he’ll only turn out to be an average AFL player (he’s not a particularly noted kicker in league – he’s a ball runner), the media brouhahah will die out leaving the gold coast with a million dollar dud.
The real story is he’s one of these players who was a gifted youth, had two or three good seasons, got on the big bucks, not interested in the hard yards and has plateaued, now no-one thinks he’s worth the money he’s asking. Except second division Japanese Rugby and the AFL!