HIS close friends say Brisbane Broncos superstar Karmichael Hunt has had enough of the NRL, but that won't stop Penrith and the Bulldogs from trying to bring the former Test fullback to Sydney. Panthers general manager Mick Leary said the club was prepared to pay up to $450,000 a season for Hunt, whose management is said to be seeking $500,000-$600,000 annually.
"We're happy with Lachlan Coote at fullback but I think as a six (five-eighth) or seven (halfback), Karmichael would be pretty handy for us,'' Leary said.
We have our recruitment meetings every fortnight. We've got a few of our boys coming off contract, but Karmichael's name will come up.''
Bulldogs recruitment chief Peter Mulholland said he was prepared to have a crack at Hunt but would not break the bank to get him.
"We've got a bit of movement within our cap, but the question is where the coach (Kevin Moore) sees him fitting in,'' Mulholland said.
"I still believe it will take a lot to get him out of Brisbane. Whether he wants to be there is the question.''
The latest interest comes as The Sunday Telegraph learned of Hunt's growing disenchantment with his profile and the perceived fishbowl existence of life as an NRL star in Brisbane.
Those close to Hunt say he is "over'' the NRL and simply wants out.
Rocked by the Broncos' decision a fortnight ago to withdraw a three-year, $1.25million offer - the only concrete deal made to the fullback - the 22-year-old is contemplating taking a football sabbatical in England, France or Japan.
Hunt's manager David Riolo will fly to Europe in the next fortnight. Riolo has several high-profile clients, including Manly's off-contract winger David Williams, although part of his brief will be sourcing big-money offers that provide an alternative to the challenges confronting Hunt in the NRL.
That is the core issue as the Broncos try to make sense of where they stand with Hunt, who joined the club as a teenager but has become increasingly distant and difficult to read.
The Broncos insist they have not played games with Hunt. On January 22, the club spoke informally with Riolo. By January 29, they had made an offer of $1.25million over three years.
That is about $416,000 a season, enough to make Hunt - currently on about $220,000 a year - among the top three earners at the Broncos.
Five weeks later, the club had made no progress, nor received any solid assurance its offer was attractive enough to keep Hunt at Red Hill.
Friends of Hunt say they detected a change in the fullback in the wake of sexual assault allegations levelled against him, Sam Thaiday and Darius Boyd during the finals series last September.
The trio were later cleared of any wrongdoing but the damage, in the players' eyes, had been done. Hunt was fined $20,000 by the Broncos.
"He loves the Broncos as a club but he wants to be able to have a life,'' a friend said this week.
