Karmichael Hunt signs with AFL Gold Coast

[mb09]

Just reported Karmichael Hunt has signed with new AFL Gold Coast club & we be announced at press conference this morning

[Insomniac]

WTF?!  AFL??

[nacho]

i heard it this morning and almost crapped my pants

if this isnt a massive wake up call to the nrl that the salary cap needs to be increased to keep our superstars, then i dont no what will make them wake up n smell the cofee!

[Tigger]

Tis funny reading Wally Lewis' take on it all, saying it's just greed - he's 22 and so what if it's greed?  This is a great opportunity for him, more cash, better administration running the game...the NRL should be bloody worried, if this works out we could lose more players. He said he didn't want to play against the Broncos and he wont be 
I'm not really with him or against him - just want to wait & see how it goes, but there are many players who could make the switch - on both sides 

Could this be the start of a hybrid game??? 

[Bullets]

This is crazy, still can't get my head around it. AFL? think he played a few games as a schoolboy..thats it.

As for people like Hasler now coming out saying oh League is going to get eaten up by AFL now and not Union....we never expected to keep Hunt, we all knew he was gone just a massive shock its AFL and not Union. Japanese Rugby will be dirty as.

Whats he doing next year? take a year to learn how to play?

Is he the first League player to convert to AFL? can't think of any in my time? (thats not a huge time lol)

[Blitzkrieg]

From NRL.com:

Hunt switch no cause for panic: NRL boss

By Ed Jackson AAP

Karmichael Hunt's switch to Australian Rules "doesn't mean the sky is falling" on rugby league, says NRL boss David Gallop.

Gallop says Hunt's decision to switch codes to league' major football rival Australian Rules with new AFL franchise Gold Coast was not a reflection on any deep problems within rugby league.

"Karmichael has been looking for a change for some time and we wish him luck in finding what he is looking for," said Gallop in a statement as he headed to Singapore for a three-day meeting of international rugby league powerbrokers.

"This is an individual decision, the sky is not falling - only a week ago we had (Wallaby centre) Timana Tahu coming back to rugby league."

He contrasted Hunt's exit from the game with the sensational sudden departure of Bulldogs star Sonny Bill Williams last season early in his contract for a lucrative offer in French rugby union.

And he played down the obvious PR benefit the AFL will glean as it hones in on the fiercely contested Gold Coast sporting market where the NRL's Gold Coast Titans currently reign.

"Karmichael hasn't walked out on a contract," Gallop said.

"He hasn't deserted teammates and we would welcome him back in the future.

"Rugby league is in a very strong position in many areas, Queensland and the Gold Coast in particular, and I am sure that we will maintain and grow that strength regardless of this announcement."

Meanwhile, Manly coach Des Hasler says the AFL's capture of Hunt should serve as a serious warning to rugby league.

The NRL premiership-winning coach said Hunt's decision to switch codes could open the doors to more players joining the AFL if the Queensland State of Origin star's move is a success.

And with the AFL planning to launch a new team into the traditional rugby league heartland of Sydney's western suburbs, Hasler said Wednesday's news had lit the fuse for red-hot battle between the rival codes.

"Here's another career path for aspiring league players," Hasler said.

"Given that Sydney has a four-and-a-half to five-million population, the outer west, where if another AFL side is commissioned there, it just puts pressure... on our code, particularly as far as recruitment is concerned.

"Sydney's only going to grow west, just the population and the number of young players that are out there, that are looking for a career path in sport. It's just another code to which you can aspire."

Hasler said Hunt was undoubtedly one of the most exciting players in the NRL and the AFL's decision to make a play for such a high-profile star meant it was game on between the rival football codes.

"It's a real battle of the codes," Hasler said.

"It'll be interesting to see how it pans out.

"There's been some talk in the papers of an NRL commission. I hope that's not too late because there needs to be some clear goals or definite outlines on what they're trying do as far as recruitment and keeping young players interested.

"Maybe it's time to look at places like Adelaide, look at places like Perth. I just think now, with this (Hunt's signing), that it is well and truly gloves off."

Maybe... but I know one thing - it's high time the NRL got off their fat backsides & threw down the gauntlet to the other football codes. Gallop & company are simply not promoting our great game as they should be.

[Bullets]

lol exactly what i thought...panic stations.

How about we wait for more then 1 player to go to AFL. We don't even know what sort of crazy money GC have thrown at Hunt who is unproven at any level of AFL.

Not sure the AFL we will go through the NRL grabbing players from everywhere when it could turn out Hunt is a failure in the sport.


Im sick of the Perth and Adelaide arguement being brought back into this everytime a player goes to another code aswell. League has failed in both cities, there is little interest there why keep flogging it claiming this will saves Rugby League.

[TC]

AwFuL should suit Khunt to a tee.

Given his missed tackle count, and the fact that he stands like a stunned mullet any time the opposition pull a draw-and-pass, he should fit right in.

[Bullets]

lol yeh was just thinking atleast he doesn't have to improve his fairly ordinary defence by jumping to AFL

[TC]

lol yeh was just thinking atleast he doesn't have to improve his fairly ordinary defence by jumping to AFL

Only regular first grader this year to have missed more tackles than he's made.     

[Bullets]

Its cause he can only shoulder charge.

[CooperCronk]

Anyone who thinks this is not going to hurt rugby league is a fool.
Imagine the publicity the new afl team on the GC is going to receive, just for starters.
Just remember how much money the afl is going to throw around into the GC team and the new west sydney team to entice young rl players to swap codes...its got to be a huge worry for the nrl.

By expanding into Perth to begin with will create more revenue for tv rights and expose our game to people who follow afl and union and entice more people to watch our game.

This why the afl has become such a successful competition, because it hasn't  sat on its backside . They have a plan in place for expansion and are very proactive.

As Des Hasler said we desperately need an independent commission to be set up before its too late.

[Bullets]

Yep just like League was dead when Gasnier and Williams left last year.....both them teams are better off now and you hardly hear of both them players.

Reports are Hunt's contract is 3mill over 3 years...for someone with 0 AFL games under his belt....nice K-Hunt!

As i said how about we wait for more then one good player to jump to AFL before we freak out

To go with Union hardly being a threat anymore...they are all starting end up back in League

[Surandy]

Anyone who thinks this is not going to hurt rugby league is a fool.
Imagine the publicity the new afl team on the GC is going to receive, just for starters.

That is all this buy is, a publicity stunt. Just like AFL lauding the Irish, African, Fijian, etc players that have signed, aside from the Irish have any of them achieved anything in the game?

Just remember how much money the afl is going to throw around into the GC team and the new west sydney team to entice young rl players to swap codes...its got to be a huge worry for the nrl.

Once again that is the biggest danger, the AFL Commission and the dollars at their disposal.

By expanding into Perth to begin with will create more revenue for tv rights and expose our game to people who follow afl and union and entice more people to watch our game.

I'd love to see Perth & Adelaide back in the comp, but unfortunately unless we gain an administrator with balls it won't get very many  new people watching the game, not much of an audience at midnight.

This why the afl has become such a successful competition, because it hasn't  sat on its backside . They have a plan in place for expansion and are very proactive.

As Des Hasler said we desperately need an independent commission to be set up before its too late.

That's about the only thing Hasler said that I agree with.

[Blitzkrieg]

Some very interesting points made in this article from rleague...

AFL WILL RUE HUNT CODE SWITCH WHILE NRL MARCHES ON

Friday 31 Jul 2009 13:39
by Matthew O'Neill

It was described as a coup, the "biggest shot" fired yet in AFL's battle with the NRL. If so, that shot fired by the AFL - its signing of Karmichael Hunt - was a shot fired at its own foot.

Despite hysterical reporting that Hunt's switch from rugby league to the Victorian game is cause for concern for the NRL, it's the AFL that should be most worried. In Hunt, the AFL inherits huge risk - on and off-the-field - with few likely benefits, while recent history shows the NRL marches on from player defections.

Gold Coast AFL officials were quick to say Hunt hadn't been signed as a publicity stunt. Hopefully that's true, because if Hunt was signed to create buzz for the new franchise and generate more support, the AFL has chosen the wrong player.

The risk for the AFL in signing Hunt was best summed up by Andrew Webster in the Daily Telegraph. Hunt was involved in a major off-field incident last year, along with Sam Thaiday and Darius Boyd, which derailed the Broncos finals campaign. He was also part of the Queensland squad embroiled in drug-taking dramas before State of Origin 3.

Hunt has had a reputation for being a party boy of Brisbane. Considering Andrew Demetriou's recent attempt to claim the moral high-ground over rugby league's handling of on-field violence, his willingness to sign a player with considerable poor off-field form looks pretty strange.

Look at the contrast. Gold Coast's new rugby league franchise - the Titans - first signed players were Preston Campbell and Scott Prince - two players at the top of their games, and who the public relate to and trust. Campbell and Prince have since proved themselves to be outstanding citizens and family-orientated people, and set the standard for the new club.

Gold Coast Titans CEO Michael Searle confirmed their impact: "The first person we recruited was Preston Campbell, and as soon as you say that, you set the culture for the club. What has this recruitment done - when, no offence to Karmichael, but they concentrate their recruitment on a gun for hire, a mercenary."

In Australia's cut-throat sporting market, positive players such as Campbell and Prince are like gold, and crucial to rugby league success - and hopefully AFL's demise - on the Gold Coast.

At the moment Hunt is rated below fullbacks Brett Stewart, Billy Slater, Jarryd Hayne and Kurt Gidley. As a crowd-pleaser he is perhaps behind Campbell, Matt Bowen, and the returning Anthony Minichiello. In terms of commitment and whole-heartedness, he falls behind the elusive Kiwi Sam Perrett and Luke Patten, a player getting better with age.

So who should the AFL have targeted? Rugby League and AFL are completely different sports - for those that call the latter a sport - and demand different skill sets. The two rugby league players best suited to the AFL game are Darren Lockyer and Jamie Soward. Both players glide around the field, have a sharp kicking game and solid hands. They would thrive in the mid-field. Lockyer played AFL as a youngster and former rugby league coach Phil Gould believes Soward to be the most similar to Lockyer, but with added acting ability.

Hunt will have to get used to lower standards in the AFL. Fortunately for many AFL players, you don't have to fully catch the ball when taking a mark in the southern code (unlike taking catches in cricket).

Players who you miss the goal target are also rewarded with a point - something not available to league goalkickers such as Hazem El Masri and Johnathan Thurston.

I'm not an avid AFL watcher, but of all the players I've seen the one that most resembled a rugby league player was former Sydney Swans captain Paul Kelly. It's no surprise to know he played both sports in his younger days in the Riverina.

Hailing from the same town as Kelly was former Canterbury and Australian Test fullback Greg Brentnall. Brentnall - who was close to the famous Mortimers - was actively courted by two VFL clubs before deciding to join Canterbury in 1977.

Brentnall's style as a rugby league player offered glimpses of the Victorian game. It was clear he used skills gained playing Aussie Rules during his league career. Brentnall possessed the best kicking game in his era, and was the first kicker to experiment with the banana kick. He was also a fantastic jumper for the ball.

Commenting on Hunt, Brentnall said, "It's a huge risk. AFL's changed a lot from when I was involved. It's certainly a lot more sanitised, it's a possession game. That's where it's a bit more of a risk because of the kicking skills in particular.

"Whilst our kicking skills have evolved over the last 10 years or so, they have to hit a target every time. When I was playing AFL you'd kick to a contest, but now you've got to kick to a target. You can't just kick to a contest because the game is so much about possession.

"He's got the attributes that would indicate he's got what it takes to make the level, but I don't know whether I'd be hanging my hat on him, and building the club around him."

NRL CEO David Gallop described Hunt's decision to join AFL as a personal one, and not a reflection on the game. He would never say so publicly, but he is probably happy Hunt is going. In his article Webster suggested the Broncos too would be relieved to see the back of an off-field headache.

Gold Coast Titans CEO Michael Searle was scathing, but accurate, in his analysis of the signing. "It reeks of desperation if you've got to recruit a rugby league player to play AFL.

"Now the monster's out of the bag, they're not going to be able to put it back in, and they've paid top dollar to do it. It's the worst decision they could have made. Rest assured, the Gold Coast region won't tolerate a circus."

"It could be the most expensive media stunt in the history of sport. If the AFL have got to recruit rugby league players, geez they're in trouble."

Worse still for the AFL, its expensive publicity will barely affect the NRL. Hunt may attract certain supporter elements to AFL, but the NRL wont shed a tear about that.

Rugby league has also shown itself to be resilient to raids from other codes. Despite the ARU's raid on rugby league in 2001-02, most of those players have found their way back to rugby league and it has widely been reported rugby union paid a heavy financial price for little value.

Some credit must go to Hunt who unlike Willie Mason - who has talked endlessly about switches to boxing, rugby union and NFL - has followed through.

But the desire of the man - who the AFL is building its Gold Coast franchise dreams on - to play so many different codes in such a short period of time brings its own set of problems for the AFL.

After rugby league and rugby union in 2010 and AFL in 2011, what will be next for Karmichael Hunt?