Broncos ready for Hunt's return
Dan Koch
The Australian
December 14, 2013 12:00AM
KARMICHAEL Hunt will announce his return to the Broncos in the next two weeks.
Hunt, who made history in becoming a three-code star, will end his three-year stint with AFL club Gold Coast for what could be his greatest challenge - rebuilding the Brisbane empire.
Should the proposed deal come off, it would be something of a godsend for embattled Broncos head coach Anthony Griffin.
The loss of exciting youngster Ashley Taylor for up to six months due to a recurrence of his troublesome shoulder problems left Griffin in the extraordinary position of preparing for a season with fringe utility Ben Hunt as the only player in the squad with NRL experience in the halves.
It is believed the deal, which The Australian first flagged more than two months ago, is close to being done. However, discussions have stagnated somewhat with Hunt's manager David Riolo overseas dealing with some of his England-based clients.
All parties went to ground when contacted by The Australian, but Hunt is understood to have come back on to the radar of NRL suitors following an injury-interrupted 2013 season.
While the Suns made giant leaps forward as a team this season, Hunt's development hit a major hurdle as he battled to overcome a serious case of hamstring tendinitis.
The issue became a chronic complaint, with most attributing the debilitating injury to the enormous training load Hunt has undertaken over the past three seasons in an attempt to re-shape his physique from the thick-set, 95kg body he built during his time in the NRL into a much leaner, lighter frame able to better manage the 12-15km of running he was expected to do as an AFL midfielder.
Veteran Melbourne forward Ryan Hoffman expects his teammate Billy Slater to be ready for NRL round one after successful surgery on his knee.
Slater went under the knife this week after returning from Australia's triumphant World Cup campaign in Britain, where he received a knee injury in the quarter-final.
It was initially feared it would end his tournament but he recovered to star in the final as the Kangaroos smacked New Zealand.
Hoffman visited his good friend on the way to training and said the minor surgery had gone well.
"I just popped into Bill's house and he's got his knee resting up but he's really happy and said the surgeon was really happy with how everything went so I'm sure he will be fighting fit by the time the season starts," Hoffman said.
WITH AAP
