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Hunt to AFL???!?!!

El Diablo

Post Whore
Messages
94,107
http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/sport/nrl/story/0,26746,25855487-5016365,00.html

Karmichael Hunt comes with baggage

By Andrew Webster | July 30, 2009 12:00am

KARMICHAEL Hunt smiles for the cameras clutching a red singlet as the brand spankin' new face of the AFL's brand spankin' new franchise in the brand spankin' new market of the Gold Coast.

Evidently, those who nailed this incomprehensible coup have chosen to ignore that less than a year ago he could be found in the toilet cubicle of a Brisbane nightclub with a 24-year-old girl and two Broncos teammates committing a sordid drunken act that attracted a police investigation and a $20,000 fine from his club.

They have chosen to ignore the raised eyebrows of Queensland officials about his behaviour in the lead-up to Origin III this year.

Chosen to ignore the whispers about his loose ways during the Maroons' bonding session on the Gold Coast on the Friday before the match. In the very territory where he's about to be the face of a club and code.

Chosen to ignore his reputation at the Broncos where he went from unaffected schoolboy to full-blown superstar.

As the Gold Coast franchise's press release read yesterday: "[Hunt] will also work with the AFL and AFL Queensland to promote and develop the game over the next three years.''

As many remarked in League Land yesterday, Hunt is the PR stunt just waiting to explode in the faces of those who signed him. Kaboom!

For the all the hype and very simple fact that Hunt is an affable 22-year-old, there's no mistaking the Gold Coast have plonked all their chips on a player who comes to them as damaged goods. The Broncos will say publicly they are sad to see him leave.

What they will not say on the record is they are partly relieved to be offloading an off-field headache, despite his abundant gifts. They were saying the same thing when Darius Boyd signed with the Dragons.

The Broncos had to withdraw a $1.2million offer months ago because they'd reached their maximum limit.
But it is understood they could not beef up their offer with third-party agreements. Why? Because no company would touch Hunt with a 12-foot pole.

It needs to be made very clear that Hunt was cleared of any criminal wrongdoing following the incident last September involving a woman and teammates Sam Thaiday and Boyd.

But the mud has stuck.

It might have something to do with why he was never a chance of playing league on the Gold Coast for the Titans, with whom he was heavily linked.

"We didn't consider he would fit into our culture,'' Michael Searle said. "He's a nice enough guy but he doesn't suit us.''

It speaks volumes about the mindset of the two franchises as they compete for the same sun-soaked hearts and minds, that Searle hunted down a cleanskin in Preston Campbell as his marquee player when the Titans formed.
Campbell is an identity you can build a culture around. Is Karmichael Hunt?

Presumably, the AFL believes so after the GC17 franchise failed to lure Nick Riewoldt and any other headline name from its own ranks.

AFL boss Andrew Demetriou may think he's delivered a round-house kick to the head of rugby league, but Searle wonders how long the euphoria will last
 

Angry_eel

First Grade
Messages
8,644
Searle is making all the right noises and the right way too. He doesn't say stupid stuff, gets right to the point. Even journos apreciate that.
 
Messages
15,658
Wally slams Karmichael
Written by: Matthew Schulz (Courier Mail)
Jul 29, 2009 3:33pm

Rugby league great Wally Lewis says the defection of star Karmichael Hunt to the AFL's new Gold Coast franchise smacks of disloyalty and greed.
The legendary player, coach and commentator said he believed the 22-year-old Brisbane Broncos star, who reportedly knocked back a $1.2m three-year deal to stay, was just “doing it for the money”.
Hunt said today he was doing it for the challenge and did not want to play against his old team.
Lewis, a legendary league player, coach and commentator, said Hunt’s loss would be a body blow for the sport but would not damage it in the long-term.
“The Broncos will be (the losers) and I guess rugby league is, in a way, and so is the trust, faith and club loyalty that used to exist once upon a time," he said.
“It’s a very sad indictment on professional sport."
The AFL on the other hand is celebrating snapping up the talented Auckland-born fullback.
Hunt has played 10 State of Origin matches for Queensland and 11 Tests for Australia and last year was the youngest person in NRL history to play 100 first-grade games.
But the man widely considered rugby league’s greatest said he believed Hunt would be seen by many as a traitor to the sport.
“The current day blokes couldn’t give a rat’s arse about what happens at the club or where they go,” Lewis said.
“They’re in it for the money.”
Hunt’s unprecedented switch was indicative of the blight throughout NRL, and other footy codes, Lewis fumed.
“The way that the professionalism and the role that it plays in sport now, loyalty is just a thing of the past," he said.
But Lewis warned Hunt could face a tough ride if he tried to switch back.
“He’s obviously going to be paid fairly well for the initial move, because if it doesn’t work, I’d be very surprised if he was invited back," he told heraldsun.com.au
While Hunt had shown he was up for the tough contact that is critical for rugby league, it was impossible to predict how he would perform in the new Gold Coast team.
“I don’t think anybody does. I don’t think Karmichael does,” Lewis said.
Lewis scoffed at suggestions the move would trigger a flood of other players moving to the AFL, including tempting Melbourne Storm prospects Greg Inglis or Billy Slater.
“The possibility of this starting players moving to the AFL is about a million-to-one – and that’s a good price,” he said.
“Anybody that suggests that it will continue honestly needs to see a doctor, because common sense would indicate that there are absolutely opposite skills in the game.
“If that does start, some time in the future, 10 or 20 years time, then you’ve probably got to question the toughness of each individual sport, and you could probably get blokes playing tennis move across to it.”
But he couldn’t nominate any AFL players who could switch, because as he put it: “I never watch it (AFL)”.
And he played down the prospect the coup would give the AFL a boost in the northern states.
“Without being rude, I don’t think a lot of Brisbane Broncos supporters are going to start following the Gold Coast in the AFL, just because Karmichael’s gone there. I don’t think too many at all.
“I quite like Karmichael as a bloke, I’ve always enjoyed watching him play.
“If he wants to go, he goes, and it’s up to rugby league to replace him and start again.
“I hardly think the AFL would be crying over spilt milk if one of their players decided to try and test his skills in another sport."
:clap::clap::clap:
 

JoeD

First Grade
Messages
7,056
Hunt’s loss would be a body blow for the sport but would not damage it in the long-term.
This kind of attitude from a 'great' pisses me off more than cutie leaving. Its purely an expensive publicity stunt and won't harm RL in the slightest. Just imagine if the roles were reversed and a RL team lured an AFL star to switch. Would anyone here think it was a good for RL or damaging to AFL?
 

Brutus

Referee
Messages
26,348
pg-64-rugby-league-g_61713t.jpg


The new King of AFL!

It doesn't take much.
 

gottabegood

Juniors
Messages
571
Endorses the fact that propaganda is the most important part of AFL.

Well the recipe has been working for years as proven by the mindless fanatical support for a very very ordinary sport in the great wasteland.

Unfortunately for AFL, NSW and QLD are a lot more resistant to BS.
 

Coaster

Bench
Messages
3,162
I feel personally insulted.

They are insulting my intelligence, they are insulting my choice of codes, they are insulting my city, and insulting my State.

They have turned me from a neutral, and forced my hand to take sides, and i feel more hate towards the GC AFL team now then i thought possible.

Before this the line in the sand was fuzzy, it is now clear as day and thousands of Gold Coasters just took a massive step to the correct side.
 

joshreading

Moderator
Staff member
Messages
1,720
I have to say Searle and even Waldron are probably the best outspoken leaders in our game. Either would be great as the head of the commission, both are great business minds, strategists and play for the better position in our game rather than protecting personal loyalties and agendas.
 

Blind Freddy

Juniors
Messages
830
I feel personally insulted.

They are insulting my intelligence, they are insulting my choice of codes, they are insulting my city, and insulting my State.

They have turned me from a neutral, and forced my hand to take sides, and i feel more hate towards the GC AFL team now then i thought possible.

Before this the line in the sand was fuzzy, it is now clear as day and thousands of Gold Coasters just took a massive step to the correct side.

With persitant pushing to the GC masses via the local media of this similar menatality that Coaster has mentioned, the signing of Hunt could turn out to be a monumental failure before he even takes to the field. The impact the AFL were hoping for could be snuffled out very easily, if more voices speak up against the AFL and the GC Gazzas.

People should start to resent or become more aware of the AFL's bullish arrogant approach for attention and support even more than ever. Michael Searle should continue to put his great pro-active comments out there for all to hear.


The ARU went through exactly the same thing. It backfired on them too. The fans soon worked out how inferior it was, and support for the wallabies has free-falled because the novelty of signing/poaching from the NRL has worn off which has exposed them for what they are and were trying to do.
 

butchmcdick

Post Whore
Messages
51,930
So did Wally feel like a traitor when he played in the Australian Schoolboys Rugby Union team in 77 - 78 or was that a whole different matter ?
 

Brutus

Referee
Messages
26,348
it was as if they were reading from a script

spent the first 25 minutes wanking on about AFL

maybe the show should change its name

Notice how Warren Smith blamed the poor off-field behaviour as the reason rugby league doesn't have the money in the bank it should.

The prick should have said the truth and blamed his employer for its criminal underselling of the game in broadcast deals over the past 10 years. That's where the real problem lies.
 

dubby

Bench
Messages
3,005
butch the difference is Wally wasn't paid millions to play a code that was his 3rd choice.

Its a PR stunt dude.

Besides, alot of blokes play both RU and RL.
 
Messages
42,652
I feel personally insulted.

They are insulting my intelligence, they are insulting my choice of codes, they are insulting my city, and insulting my State.

They have turned me from a neutral, and forced my hand to take sides, and i feel more hate towards the GC AFL team now then i thought possible.

Before this the line in the sand was fuzzy, it is now clear as day and thousands of Gold Coasters just took a massive step to the correct side.

Took me a while to get there too.

For years I would watch the odd AFL game on the box, even went to one in the 1980's. Live and let live I thought, they don't really do much harm. But a few years ago I realised what wasn't readily evident back then, not to everyone anyway, those pricks won't be satisfied until AFL is the only Winter sport in Australia. They want Rugby League and Rugby Union to die.

So I sat down and watched one single game of AFL with that thought in mind. I watched it and dissected it from the point of view of a Rugby League fan and it surprised me. Their game has nothing of interest. I hated it from that day on and from then I've just found more reasons to hate it.

I hate it, it's fans and everything it stands for. The lies about its beginnings, the way their stupid fans just accept the AFL handing premierships to teams because they want to drum up support somewhere, the way they manipulate the press, the arrogance of the whole code.

Hate is good and in this case, well-earned.
 
Messages
1,355
If I was at the head of a new AFL club, I don't think my first signing would be an NRL player.

Personally I see this as just a media stunt by the club and a money grab by KH, good luck to him.

I remember when the Tigers merged and we were waiting on signings, if they had have signed Ronaldinho, I would have been pretty disappointed.

Do you get my drift?
 
Messages
705
With cutie it's always been about the money. That's why he turned his back on the Kiwis.

Also, the guy is an absolute grub and RL will be better off without him. Piss off cutie.
 

Mr Saab

Referee
Messages
27,762
Imagine if the NRL signed Fevola for 1 million a season....how many noses would be out of joint.
Alot of AFL players would be insulted by this.
 

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