Brisbane Broncos boss Bruno Cullen believes Karmichael Hunt’s jaw-dropping defection smacks of desperation by the fledgling Gold Coast AFL club.
Cullen stressed he did not want to criticise Hunt or the expansion club, but felt the Coast’s inability to lure a high-profile AFL player to the tourist strip had contributed to the left-field deal.
Gold Coast failed in their well-publicised attempts to sign St Kilda star Nick Riewoldt as their foundation captain as well as fellow Coast products Sam Gilbert, also of St Kilda and North Melbourne’s David Hale.
Cullen pointed out the representative league fullback’s three-year deal single-handedly turned the publicity tide for the new club.
“They have missed out on some of the high-profile players in their code they have been chasing, the Nick Riewoldts and the like,” Cullen said.
“They might have been getting to desperation stakes to a degree, this might be a little bit cheeky (to say), to have that high-profile individual to come in and help sell that game.
“And they have gone outside their own code to do that.
Hawthorn’s Jarryd Roughead is the most recent big-name player to turn down interest from Gold Coast, who debut in the AFL in 2011.
It would be difficult for the 17th club to parade a star AFL signing as the team’s first high-profile player more than 18 months before their inaugural AFL campaign.
But Hunt’s signing does give the Coast the Queensland-specific selling tool they missed when former Lions captain Michael Voss passed on a chance to be their inaugural coach.
“It’s a public relations coup for the AFL and they will make every use of it, particularly down there,” Cullen said.
Despite taking a $1.2 million offer over three years off the table for Hunt in March, he certainly didn’t see Wednesday’s bombshell coming.
“It’s the biggest left-field hit I’ve ever taken,” he said.
Hunt originally indicated he was over the pressure and scrutiny on his life in the Brisbane rugby league fishbowl.
But the Broncos chief executive felt he may now become a bigger fish in a smaller bowl.
“He’s not going too far down the road and I think there will be as many cameras and mobile telephones around down there,” he said.
“He certainly won’t be getting out of the fishbowl, in fact he might be jumping into one the same size.”
Cullen was also surprised Hunt is set to have a six-month stint in rugby overseas instead of preparing for his AFL transition with a full pre-season to improve his running endurance.
But he stressed there was no hard feelings from Broncos officials and players and they would welcome him back with open arms if his AFL conversion went awry.
“It’s a huge transition for him but I wouldn’t expect him, to coin a phrase, be kicking goals too early,” he said.
“But I think he could make a successful go of it if things fall into place.
“If it doesn’t work out in AFL he’s certainly welcome back here, and again I would hope people wouldn’t treat him too harshly because of that.”
Michael C
Guest
I wouldn't be surprised re the IR series that the GAA (celebrating their 125th 'birthday') would prefer not to have the AFL over - there's factions around the GAA who don't approve at all of the IR series and the AFL 'poaching' their best talented kids - and so the AFL and GAA come out and say the right things and they push it back a year and the GAA have their party without any AFL related 'politics' .
Pippinu
Roar Guru
Hansie I think the trick here is that Hunt either doesn't come within the salary cap, or a large part of the salary doesn't come under it (there's a special provision for palyers recruited from outside of aussie rules, predominantly used to recruit Irish boys, but obviously applies in this case as well). In other words, there's actually a financial incentive built into the AFL system to find players like Hunt - which makes up in a small part for the massive risk. I just wrote on another thread somewhere that in this case, a lot of factors coincided to make it a one off opportnity for GC - it's not something that will happen too often - if ever.
Hansie
Guest
I admire Hunt's bravery in taking on the challenge of a new code, but there has to be a question about GC17 devoting so much of its salary cap to an untried recruit who will, at best, be an average standard AFL player.
oikee
Guest
3 million for 1 player and yet the AFL cant afford to send a international team to Ireland. Be careful redb, this is what happened to Union when they had unlimited funds, a few years down the track they had to announce they were broke. League made 5 million and were over the moon because we could invest this amount back into the international game, Union expects to make over half a Billion from the 2015 world cup. Open your eyes mate, if league wanted to hurt the AFL they would open up the salary cap. Same applies with Union hurting league.
GaryGnu
Guest
If this is a shot in the everlasting intercode wars then the AFL and Gold Coast FC should take heed of the results Rugby achieved by poaching high profile NRL players. Despite the obvious similarities between the codes the bulk of League players struggled with the transition and all but a few are gone/returned to their original code. Those that remain have had previous high level schoolboy experience. I don't think Karmichael Hunt even has that. The other thing Rugby managed to do by recruiting across the code boundary is alienate their loyal fans, members and other stakeholders. The Gold Coast FC would want to be careful that it doesn't do just that while trying to build a grass roots supporter base. In my experience the Gold Coast has a stong, if not large, Aussie Rules community and I wonder how they would be feeling right now. This is probably not any different from any other Generation Y worker changing careers after an initial period in their first job. I wish him all the best. At least he didn't go seeking a "new challenge" mid contract like other wondering souls.
Redb
Roar Guru
No it was an act of marketing brilliance! He is no slouch in the NRL, has played AFL at school level and was courted by AFL scouts at the time. There are question marks but the coverage and attention could not be better - every AFL and NRL fan in Australia is instantly aware of the new Gold Coast club. GC17 are going to get the best young talent in the AFL system singing a Kurt Tippett is good for a local feel but would not attract 10% of the interest that Hunt will attract. This is about breaking down barriers for other kids in NSW/QLD who may have shied away from 'that' game to play their traditional footy. Hunt described himself as a pioneer - an excelllent call. "Gold Coast Pioneers." Redb