The rugby world should be getting excited, because according to Fox Sports and Triple M pundit Greg Martin and Bret Harris of the Australian, Gold Coast Suns star and in-demand athlete Karmichael Hunt is off to the Reds.
There have been whispers of Hunt’s move to the 15-man code doing the rounds for the past couple of weeks, and Martin is confident the deal is as good as done.
Then again, according to Hunt’s manager David Riolo, in an interview with AFL media, says there is no such deal.
“He’s still looking at all his options.”
As for whether he’s off to the Queensland Reds;
“He might end up there. I don’t speculate on players’ contracts,” said Riolo.
Not giving away much then, except a confirmation that Hunt was exploring options in all codes.
“He might end up in AFL, but he’s also looking at League and Union.”
In the absence of an official announcement from the Reds, the whispers have translated to a confident article from The Australian’s Bret Harris, who believes the deal is an “Open secret” and will be announced soon.
“While there has been no official announcement that the Reds have signed Hunt, it is an open secret that it’s a done deal.”
The deal has come at a price, though, with the Reds reportedly shelling our between $600,000 and $700,000 of their own salary cap due to the fact the ARU has not offered Hunt a top-up for his contract.
Israel Folau is believed to be on a very healthy top-up from the ARU, so it would seem strange that a star player like Hunt would not be offered something.
Either way, if Hunt has agreed to the deal, it is a major coup for the Reds, who have lost a number of key outside backs for the 2015 Super Rugby season. Dom Shipperley, Rod Davies, Aidan Toua and Mike Harris have all left for other clubs.
Hunt would fill a big void for the Reds at fullback, and would form a very dynamic attacking partnership with the likes of Quade Cooper, Lachie Turner and Will Genia.
As mentioned, the Reds have made no official announcement, and The Roar can’t confirm whether or not Hunt will be heading to the 15-man game, the 13-man game or stick with the AFL.
John Ryan
Roar Pro
Instead of the Suns being a team they turned out to be a one man wonder maybe they can can slot the inspirational Hunt back in,you have to learn not to take notice of GoGWS he follows a team that no one cares about and are very adept at fiddling the crowd figures,only place they will go is to Tassie
John Ryan
Roar Pro
I,m sure your joking, why the hell would the NRL want to waste money on that waster,if the Reds are silly enough to sign him it will reinforce the view that RU want to go broke sooner than later
MomentbyMoment
Guest
Haha thats perfect. It would not happen in any other code however.
slane
Guest
It's interesting that you call Australian Football, Fumbleball. That would imply that you dislike the way the ball is always being contested. The reason the game is so 'fumbly' is because if you take possession of the ball and are then tackled the ball is turned over. The fact that you can be tackled and still retain the ball in League is what turns me off the sport the most. The ball just never seems to be contested. One team gets to hold the ball, get tackled 5 times and then kick it to the other team for their turn to hold the ball. Bizarre to say the least. Get rid of knock ons and then you'd have a game worth watching.
MomentbyMoment
Guest
Thats true. Although we did learn to kick a torp as kids - but that is a dying art in rugby as well.
Andy_Roo
Roar Guru
Hunt's supposed marquee status with the Suns has been non-existent since 2012. He has hardly played in the last two years and only gets a mention in relation to his playing future. He was still good value for the marketing and publicity he received in his first two years but that side of the job is done. Suns are now getting attention for their performance. Hunt wasn't a bad AFL player but his injuries hindered his development and other players have gone past him.
fiver
Guest
Will be interesting to see how well he goes in one of the Rugby codes. I think the ARU needs him more than League though, even though there will be a plethora of negative League articles "League missed huge opportunity". "Another NRL superstar defects to RU", "Can the NRL survive after this set back" etc....
GoGWS
Roar Guru
I liked both Folau and Hunt and think they did their very best to adapt to a game the didn't really know how to play - watching both live it was very apparent that the junior football that they missed out on cost them in terms of understanding where to be, knowing the patterns of play and being used to the relentless and continual focus you need to display to do well at Fumbleball. A half a second lapse here and there is not good enough for Fumbleball, and time and again this is what happened with Folau/Hunt which meant they ended up being out of sync with the rest of the players who'd moved on. Hunt/Folau trained the house down and got extremely aerobically fit but what they couldn't aquire was sufficent game knowledge, sufficient spacial knowledge and adequate focus/reflexes. I admire what they did manage to achieve but realistically they started way behind other players who had hundreds of games of junior football under their belts. Hunt/Folau will both do far better returning to the more leisurely pace of the simpler, two dimensional games they grew up playing.
Toa
Guest
The original Kiwi traitor - wasn't that suppose to be Brad Thorn? I thought Hunt was Samoan/Cook Island heritage? I would Imagine he sights would be to play at a International level for Australia however would this mean he's eligible to play for Manu Samoa if he's not under contract with the ARU? (its probably a long shot)
Rumor
Guest
This is were Dave Smith needs to bring out his 'war chest' and secure Hunt in the NRL. A quality talent in league, should return.
Insult
Guest
He would now know how to kick well and mark the ball with hands outstretched. The rugby blokes are woeful kickers and can only take chest marks.
Jiggles
Roar Guru
It's complete crap. The QRU does the heavy lifting for this code in this country. What happened about the waratah salary cap breaches two seasons ago? That's right nothing.
Flick
Roar Rookie
What do we have here, the dymanic duo, not the sharpest tools in the shed, both with obvious cultural cringes and chips on their shoulders.
Insominactor
Guest
The original Kiwi traitor. Must know he is due some punishment from the NZ sides - don't know if he can make the wallabies. How old is he now?
greg t
Guest
Yep totally agree. So many of our talented athletes wasted in a sport which has no international presence and only ppl living in vic, sa and wa care about.
HK47
Guest
Apparently he wanted to stay in South East Queensland for that exact reason. Bronco's couldn't afford him, neither of the AFL sides really need/want him, and I don't think the Titans would appeal to Hunt (didn't the CEO or the Prez make some ludicrous statement about him when he switched codes?) So unless the Brisbane Roar were interested in being the 4th code he's played, Reds were the logical option,
Jay
Guest
"He might end up there. I don’t speculate on players’ contracts,” said Riolo. Isn't that speculating in itself?
Pat
Guest
Great to see he,s banked his super from Fumbleball and is heading back to a real sport - either Rugby code will do.
Flick
Roar Rookie
Yes, good luck to him, hope he does well no matter what code.
Chris
Guest
The top-ups from the ARU aren't dependent on playing for a particular franchise, the player just happens to get it when they are a Waratah. Fixed it for you.