The Age:
The Gold Coast Football Club has confirmed Brisbane Broncos rugby league player Karmichael Hunt's switch to AFL.
The 22-year-old told a media conference on the Gold Coast this morning he had been considering the code switch for a "couple of months" and wanted a new challenge. "I'm pretty excited at the opportunity in front of me," Hunt said. "I just felt it was time for a new challenge. I've let it sit with me for the past couple of months and I only decided fairly recently."
GCFC chief executive Travis Auld described the star full-back's and as a "natural-born AFL footballer" and his recruitment to the code a "great coup for Queensland". He will complete this NRL season with the Broncos before heading overseas for six months and beginning his Australian Rules career next May.
"When it was first reported Karmichael was considering leaving rugby league and the Broncos, and given the promise he had shown at a young age, we wanted to give him the opportunity to play AFL at the highest level in his home state," Auld said. "We are on a journey to be the country's most exciting sporting club and that includes attracting talented athletes to our game. As a new club not set in traditional ways we can be innovative in the way we build our organisation on and off the field. "Karmichael Hunt is one of the most exciting sportsmen in Australian sport and a natural-born AFL footballer. We think he can be one of the elite players of the AFL. His potential to play the game has been confirmed by our recruiting staff led by Scott Clayton and the AFL's talent division."
Hunt's code switch comes as his NRL contract with the Broncos expires at the end of this season. Speculation had been rife about his future and a possible move to play rugby union overseas. In what would be an unprecedented cross-code switch, Hunt will begin playing Australian Rules next May.
GCFC coach Guy McKenna said Hunt needed some technical training to make the transistion but was impressed by what he had seen of the league star so far. "I’ve followed state-of-origin, I know it's not AFL football, but seeing how he moves, seeing how he hits, he's going to bring another dimension to an AFL football team," Mr McKenna said. "Powerful, strong, quick and probably averages 23 tackles in a game. We're lucky to average 40 in a whole side. He's built for that, built for the physical demands of AFL football. "Technically we are going to have do some work with him but that's no different to some of the Irish players who have crossed over. We are probably at an advantage given he played competitive AFL football as a teenager, so he's someone with a history in the game. "We will sit down and map out his next 18 months and work out from a physical point of view and a technical side of things a program but I can't wait to get my hands on him.”
He will begin his new career with the Gold Coast franchise next year, most likely in the VFL competition. It will be the first time a rugby league international has switched to play Australian Rules.
The move will intensify the fierce turf war between the strongest football codes in Australia, with rugby league in danger of suffering further raids on its most talented players, especially if Hunt makes a successful transition. Fellow Test players Greg Inglis, Billy Slater and Israel Folau are other obvious targets for AFL clubs.
Hunt, 22, was embroiled in a sex scandal involving teammates Sam Thaiday and Darius Boyd and a woman in a disabled toilet in Brisbane nightclub Alhambra Lounge in September last year. He was investigated by police but no charges were laid.
Broncos CEO Bruno Cullen said he had not spoken to Hunt about the code switch but expected he would do well. "He played a bit of AFL at high school," Cullen told ABC Radio.
"He's a fantastic athlete. He can kick. The thing that he would be short on at the moment would be that durability...the running.
Hunt played some Australian Rules as a schoolboy in Brisbane, attracting the attention of Queensland AFL scouts, before joining the Broncos as a 17-year-old in 2004. The Auckland-born full-back has since played 10 State of Origin matches for Queensland and 11 Tests for Australia. With Hunt's contract with the Broncos up at the end of the 2009 NRL season, the 22-year-old's future has been a hot topic in recent months.
He knocked back a $1.2 million three-year deal from the Broncos earlier this year and his manager David Riolo has been overseas looking at his options.
with Christine Kellett and AAP
This is pretty amazing. Switching between League and Union is relatively common these days, but a switch to AFL is entirely different. To be honest, I have my doubts as to whether he will be able to pick up the game as there are so many major differences between footy and rugby, from tackling techniques to kicking. I've watched State Of Origin, he does move and tackle very well. But will he be able to adjust to simple things that AFL players have been doing all their lives like:
- Becoming accountable for an opponent.
- Playing for 120 not 80 minutes.
- Marking overhead as opposed to on the chest.
Just to name afew. He apparently played abit of footy in school, but nothing substancial. I hope he does well, but it seems like an extremely tough transition.
From a marketing perspective though, I think the AFL would be very pleased. It will certainly draw alot of attention to the new Gold Coast side, who is about to enter a very competetive market involving Soccer, League and Basketball in the next few years.
So what does everyone else think? Will this unprecented move be a success?
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Topic: Karmichael Hunt moves from the NRL to AFL (Read 1384 times)