Hunt to return?

[DIEHARD]

Gold Coast Suns to tell Karmichael Hunt he’s free to go

NRL clubs are set to step up their pursuit of code-hopper Karmichael Hunt with the Gold Coast AFL team soon to tell him he is free to leave the club at the end of the season.

A formal decision on Hunt’s future with the Suns could be made by the club this month.

The Australian has been told that Hunt will soon sit down with coach Guy McKenna to discuss his future, and that should he *decide to leave after four years, Gold Coast would not stand in his way.

However, neither the AFL nor the Suns would be surprised should Hunt decide to move on.

The AFL has heavily subsidised Hunt’s salary — worth about $1 million annually — since he switched from a highly successful career with NRL club the Brisbane Broncos and a stint in French rugby union.

Gold Coast, which has not *instigated contract extension talks with Hunt, needs to reduce its list by two players to 38 next year in line with other clubs, except GWS, as the final part of its entry into the competition. The Suns will officially strike off sacked player Campbell Brown.

The growing maturity and development of the Gold Coast list has raised the selection bar for every Sun’s player, not just Hunt.

After winning 14 of 66 games in their first three seasons, the Suns are strong favourites to win for the sixth time in the first eight rounds this year against St Kilda at Etihad on Sunday.

The 27-year-old, who is out of contract at the end of the season, would attract plenty of interest in the NRL although it would be hard to see him returning to his former club Brisbane with the club already having fullback Ben Barba, and halves Josh Hoffman and Anthony Milford on its books for next season.

Gold Coast could loom as a possible destination. Although the club has settled on its halves with Aidan Sezer and Albert Kelly, coach John Cartwright has experimented with a couple of options at fullback, including William Zillman and David Mead.

“We don’t even know if Karmichael Hunt wants to come back to rugby league,’’ Titans chief executive Graham Annesley said last night. “If and when he makes it known that he does … we would be interested in having a discussion with him. But our resources are limited.’’

Melbourne Storm coach Craig Bellamy this week said his club would entertain luring Hunt if he were interested in moving south and back to rugby league.

The 43-game AFL player found his niche in the midfield for the Suns towards the end of 2012, but injuries have severely restricted him since early last year and he has been able to play just two senior games since round six last year due to a variety of issues, including recurring hamstring and calf problems.

He has not been able to be considered for selection recently due to his second bout of concussion this year.

In 2012, when Hunt signed his second contract, he admitted there was a lot of interest from NRL clubs, but added: “In no way did I entertain it.”

AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou described Hunt’s re-signing and extension of his ambassadorial role in promoting the code in Queensland, as a “blessing” for Australian football. “Our (contract) component is *obviously to do with Karmichael’s promotional work and he’s delivered for the code above and beyond our expectations,” *Demetriou said at the time.

Hunt’s most famous achievement with the Suns was in round 16, 2012, when he kicked the winning goal after the siren against Richmond in Cairns to record the club’s first of three wins for the season.

Last month McKenna said it would be unfair to undersell Hunt with what he has achieved to reach and then play at the elite level. He said it was not long ago that critics were hailing the success of the multimillion-dollar experiment after Hunt kicked the match-winning goal against the Tigers.

“People said ‘he’s made it, he’s done this, he’s done that’, now all of a sudden people turn because it’s easy, an easy thing to say. I don’t think they’re doing themselves justice,” he said.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/spor...1226918043797#

[DIEHARD]

He isn't worth any star pay check. He wasn't even that flash years ago. He was tough and professional but not stellar.