Karmichael Hunt defecting to AFL.

[chaddles]

Always hated this pr!ck when he played Origin and Broncos, he has definitely changed my view on him - very interesting reading his views on how he made this decision. I am really looking forward to seeing him play next year, and will get along to watch a few games for sure when they are in Melbourne.

Great move by GC, have a look at how much interest this has sparked in the media already and he won't be playing a game of aussie rules for another 9 months or so. There will be similar attention again when he first pulls on the boots in the VFL next year too I would imagine, then again if he makes the AFL.

 

[Bomber Bears]

I remember when he first played for the broncos as a 17 year old and he'd stand behind the broncos defensive line and he'd be yelling and screaming at his team mates (who were much older and more experienced then him) at where to go when they were defending. It was really impressive. He could end up a success or a massive flop but he's definitely gutsy.

He was fullback, you have to yell at people back there, hell i would when i played fullback despite being a shithouse player.

What i remember of his first few years were his shithouse defensive efforts and him using his massive side step...then getting tackled. Oh and getting knocked out by Pritchard when he played against his own country.

Always an over rated player and no loss to the game, considering he was leaving anyway after this year.

 

[jaysway]

i want the afl/gcfc to stop telling us its not a PR stunt.. give us a fing spell, who signs a bloke to a 1million a year contract who MIGHT be able to play the game? and his million a season isn't included in their salary cap which was seen over by the afl. he even said tonight that hes only played around 10 games of aussie rules. just shows how desperate the gcfc is seeing they haven't been able to sign any afl stars. good luck to K but i don't see him becoming a superstar in that game and will most likely end up playing union overseas after wards anyway

 

[CooperCronk]

LOL @ the afl

What a bunch of hypocrites, signing a player with a history of off-field incidents and making him a key signing for the new afl team on the gold coast to promote their game.

 

[gostk86]

LOL @ the afl

What a bunch of hypocrites, signing a player with a history of off-field incidents and making him a key signing for the new afl team on the gold coast to promote their game.

lol, but now he plays afl, their players do nothing wrong

 

[Hoops]

LOL @ the afl

What a bunch of hypocrites, signing a player with a history of off-field incidents and making him a key signing for the new afl team on the gold coast to promote their game.

how's that being hypocritical?

 

[meltiger]

^ Because AFL = Evil in her deluded "one code only" world. You have to remember, you're dealing with someone who has an attitude problem about her club meaning almost nothing in the Melbourne sporting landscape, and of course, that just must be the AFL's fault.


She wouldn't have said a peep about Brisbane/RL being hypocritical had the Broncs re-signed him.


Good word hypocritical though ...

 

[gostk86]

probably because Hunt was in a sex scandel last year..and Hoops and your buddies slam nrl players for their behaviour

 

[Bomber Bears]

AFL isnt evil in the slightest.

There are pretty apparent double standards in media reporting of RL incident compared with AFL ones however, eg the amount of coverage given to the Qld side mixing sleeping pills (not illegal) with red bull, compared with AFL players testing positive to illegal substances, yet no players being named and it being pretty much swept under the carpet

 

[Hoops]

probably because Hunt was in a sex scandel last year..and Hoops and your buddies slam nrl players for their behaviour

No I didn't (glass houses and all that) and what does my so called buddies have to do with the AFL?

 

[meltiger]

Yet that BB is not the AFL's fault.


Incidents with AFL players get reported, they are just not turned into sensationalist witch hunts like the ones with RL players are.


That is the fault of the Northern media & the twits who buy the papers daily like brainless sods. No one else.

 

[Hoops]

AFL isnt evil in the slightest.

There are pretty apparent double standards in media reporting of RL incident compared with AFL ones however, eg the amount of coverage given to the Qld side mixing sleeping pills (not illegal) with red bull, compared with AFL players testing positive to illegal substances, yet no players being named and it being pretty much swept under the carpet

I haven't heard of the sleeping pill thing to tell you the truth.

I'm not sure if you are aware of the AFL policy but it's 3 strikes, without having to name players. How many in the NRL have tested positive to illicit drugs over the last year. We don't know because unlike the AFL the NRL don't release the numbers.

Who's sweeping things under the carpet?

 

[gostk86]

No I didn't (glass houses and all that) and what does my so called buddies have to do with the AFL?

fans who now applauding getting hunt...and all the melb journos

 

[Davo23]

If amateur irish recruits can adapt to AFL then i'm sure a professional rugby league player who has played AFL can adapt easily enough.

There are several significant differences:

1. Irish recruits have been young, mostly 17 or 18 years. Hunt is already 22, and is only just starting to learn the game. He will be 24 before he plays a single game.
   
   
2. The Irish game is similar to ours: kicking the ball is extremely important, and passing the ball forward is of utmost importance. Although the Irish have to adjust to a different ball, they are already adept at kicking as part of their skills. In rugby league, the ball is very rarely kicked, and only by one player in the team. Use of the ball is mainly by hand and only passed backwards.
   
   
3. Irish players grow up with similar instincts: their opponents are all around them, and they have to be constantly aware of players coming from behind and from the side. In rugby league, your opponents are in front of you, and you run at them.
   
   
4. Irish players also play a running game. It is constant movement back and forward, running with the ball, passing off, getting the ball back, passing off and running forward again. Rugby league is significantly different and a player is very rarely in the play for more than a few seconds.
   
   
5. The biggest problem that Hunt will find is that he is built for impact, not for running. He is very strong on the shoulders and hips, and while this is very helpful in rugby league for running at other players, and breaking tackles, he needs to get a huge amount of aerobic fitness before he can play our game.

Good luck to him, but he will be on a huge contract, and if he doesn't live up to it there will be a very big backlash.


.

 

[jaysway]

I haven't heard of the sleeping pill thing to tell you the truth.

I'm not sure if you are aware of the AFL policy but it's 3 strikes, without having to name players. How many in the NRL have tested positive to illicit drugs over the last year. We don't know because unlike the AFL the NRL don't release the numbers.

Who's sweeping things under the carpet?

you dont read much outside your state? reni maitua tested positive and bang out the door. other than that there havent been others that i can recall this year due to the nrl drug policy being ten times tougher than the afl

 

[bluesfan95]

i don't think he will become a great player, he'll be an average player

 

[Bomber Bears]

I haven't heard of the sleeping pill thing to tell you the truth.

I'm not sure if you are aware of the AFL policy but it's 3 strikes, without having to name players. How many in the NRL have tested positive to illicit drugs over the last year. We don't know because unlike the AFL the NRL don't release the numbers.

Who's sweeping things under the carpet?

Reni Matuia tested positive earlier this season and was promptly banned for two years.

Your move

 

[A Living God]

Reni Matuia tested positive earlier this season and was promptly banned for two years.

Your move

Reni Matuia tested postive for a performancing enhancing drug not an illicit drug. Any AFL play testing postive for Clenbuterol would face the same penalty.

 

[robbieando]

Reni Matuia tested positive earlier this season and was promptly banned for two years.

and same if he was an AFL player. PED's aren't covered by the 3 strikes rule.

 

[Hoops]

Reni Matuia tested positive earlier this season and was promptly banned for two years.

Your move

That is because it was a performance enhancing drug which comes directly under WADA which the AFL has also signed up too. The 3 strikes policy in AFL is only for "recreational drugs" outside match day testing. And therefore if the same thing occured in the AFL the same penalty would apply, just lik it did for Justin Charles about 10 years ago now

 

[magic_johnson!]

He's had as much footy experience as anyone else on the GC list, why not?

 

[Aucklander]

Been fun reading the numerous threads on this issue.

I don't like the guy and I always hope he fails at anything he does, this will be no different.

There are plenty of winners in all of this. AFL fans are talking about Rugby league, while Rugby league fans are talking about Aussie Rules.

Rugby league players aren't no neck skill less thugs anymore, but a clear target of the AFL's recruitment policy.

I don't know if he'll be any good or not, but he's big, strong and athletic.

By signing Hunt the AFL have said that they have Rugby league and its players in it's sights. If the codes weren't in a battle before, then the AFL have ensured they are now.

 

[CooperCronk]

^ Because AFL = Evil in her deluded "one code only" world. You have to remember, you're dealing with someone who has an attitude problem about her club meaning almost nothing in the Melbourne sporting landscape, and of course, that just must be the AFL's fault.


She wouldn't have said a peep about Brisbane/RL being hypocritical had the Broncs re-signed him.


Good word hypocritical though ...

Are you the new forum shrink MT?..
Delusional, attitude problem...ha ha

I just love my rugby league

I think the afl would have been better off signing Nick Riewoldt (spellcheck) or a similar player from the gc.. a nice cleanskin marquee player, who can actually play the game and maybe be their future captain...but no...they just want to upstage rugby league and sign someone from that code so to attract league supporters to their game....simple as that.

If I was a current afl player I would be pretty cheesed off with the afl for signing an unknown quantity on such huge dollars.

 

[Subprime]

Are you the new forum shrink MT?..
Delusional, attitude problem...ha ha

I just love my rugby league

I think the afl would have been better off signing Nick Riewoldt (spellcheck) or a similar player from the gc.. a nice cleanskin marquee player, who can actually play the game and maybe be their future captain...but no...they just want to upstage rugby league and sign someone from that code so to attract league supporters to their game....simple as that.

If I was a current afl player I would be pretty cheesed off with the afl for signing an unknown quantity on such huge dollars.

GC can't sign anyone like Riewoldt, Tippett etc until Oct 2010 ... thats when their trade period begins ... I think they they let this cat out of the bag because they couldn't keep it secret any longer.

 

[JF_Bay_22_SCG]

Are you the new forum shrink MT?..
Delusional, attitude problem...ha ha

I just love my rugby league

I think the afl would have been better off signing Nick Riewoldt (spellcheck) or a similar player from the gc.. a nice cleanskin marquee player, who can actually play the game and maybe be their future captain...but no...they just want to upstage rugby league and sign someone from that code so to attract league supporters to their game....simple as that.

If I was a current afl player I would be pretty cheesed off with the afl for signing an unknown quantity on such huge dollars.

You have NEVER lived in the northern states have you?

The only analogy would be if Storm decided to sign Fev or Buddy.

It is as much about getting exposure in a normally unfavourable market as it is about developing a star AFL convert. How many people will go to GC matches to have a look at him (&AFL in general) who may never have ever set foot into an AFL venue ever.

It is about changing people's attitudes to AFL in its "growth areas". And it is one player who had played the code as a kid. The paranoiac attitude of the Sydney media has been both hilarious as well as ridiculous over the last few days.

JF