Karmichael Hunt

Karmichael Neil Matthew Hunt (born 17 November 1986) is a New Zealand professional rugby league coach and former player who is the current head coach of the Souths Logan Magpies in the Queensland Cup, as well as the Cook Islands national rugby league team.

Having played professional rugby league, rugby union and Australian rules football, Hunt was the second person (after Ray Millington) in Australia to reach an elite professional level in three different football codes.

He was born in Auckland, New Zealand, but has represented Australia in both rugby codes after his family emigrated there when he was aged 11.

Hunt was born on 17 November 1986 in Auckland, New Zealand, to Hans and Tera Hunt, from Samoa and the Cook Islands.

He began playing rugby league at the age of four for the Avondale Wolves before moving to Australia as an eleven-year-old in 1997, the family moved to the suburb of Algester in Brisbane, Australia.

Upon moving to Brisbane, Hunt played junior rugby league for the Souths club in Acacia Ridge.

Hunt's childhood hero was Michael Jordan and, prior to his rugby league success, he dreamt of playing basketball in the United States.

In 2000, Hunt made his representative debut with the Under-14 South–East team of the Queensland Rugby League (QRL), in the fullback position.

In 2001, he became part of the Under-15 Australian merit side, and, upon seeing him play rugby league, NRL club Brisbane Broncos scout Cyril Connell offered him a scholarship with the club.

Hunt accepted the Broncos scholarship and, after strong performance at Souths Acacia Ridge and Sunnybank High School, received a scholarship to the Anglican Church Grammar School (Churchie).

At Churchie, Hunt switched to rugby union and was a dominant figure in the school's team, which played in the Queensland Great Public Schools (GPS) competition.

Hunt's 2001 scholarship came to fruition when he joined the Brisbane Broncos' main squad at the end of the 2003 NRL season.

As a fullback, he led his team to an undefeated season in 2003, and he was one of the best players in the GPS competition.

While playing rugby union at ACGS, Hunt also played for the Queensland Schoolboys rugby league team against New South Wales, in the position of.

Along with Anton LaVin, he won the Bob Templeton Trophy for Queensland's leading schoolboy player.

During the rugby off-season in 2003, Hunt played six matches of Australian rules football code for the ACGS school side under captain Scott Harding.

During which time he was identified by Australian Football League talent manager Mark Browning as an "AFL prospect".

In 2003, Hunt was selected for the Australian Schoolboys rugby league representative team to tour New Zealand, playing three matches under coach Rod Patison.

Hunt scored a try in each game and was named best back of the series.

Australian Schoolboys' coaching staff predicted that Hunt was the most likely Australian schoolboy to make a debut in the NRL.

Hunt made his debut for the Brisbane Broncos in the National Rugby League in 2004 and won the Dally M Rookie of the Year award.

In 2004, St. George Illawarra Dragons coach Nathan Brown spoke about Hunt and a discussion he had with recruitment officer Craig Young a year earlier, when Hunt was still under contract with the Broncos.

"He's a terrific player. Craig Young who scouts for us watched him play last year and said give him $80,000 (to lure him to Sydney). I said 'where would we play him?' And he (Young) said 'wing, fullback, centre, five eighth, lock – doesn't matter because he'll play first grade and play for Australia for the next 12 years'."

He participated in the team's off-season training in early 2004, under the guidance of Broncos' coach Wayne Bennett, and was selected to participate in the Broncos' pre-season trial games in February.

Hunt had expected to play most of the 2004 season in the Queensland Cup, the second-tier rugby league competition in Queensland.

However, after Darren Lockyer's shift to the five-eighth position and Hunt playing both trial games on the wing and scoring a try in the first game against the Melbourne Storm, he was selected to make his National Rugby League (NRL) debut for the Broncos in the first round of the 2004 season against the New Zealand Warriors, making him the youngest ever Bronco at seventeen.

Coach Bennett's decision to name Hunt as the starting fullback was somewhat surprising, due to Hunt's original selection, the week before the match, on the interchange bench.

He replaced Motu Tony in the fullback position.

Hunt described Bennett and Broncos teammate Darren Lockyer as the greatest influences on his league career.

Hunt's performance in the 2006 NRL season resulted in his selection for Queensland and Australia (the Kangaroos) in 2006.

Primarily a, he played for Brisbane until 2009 and was part of the Broncos team which won the Grand Final in 2006.

In a controversial move, Hunt chose to play for Australia instead of his native New Zealand, citing a lifelong dream of playing for Queensland in the State of Origin series.

In July 2009 he signed a three-year contract with Australian Football League expansion team, Gold Coast, whose inaugural season was in 2011.

Hunt was questioned by police in 2009 relating to an alleged sexual assault in a Brisbane nightclub.

In 2010, while contracted to the Gold Coast, he played a season with Biarritz Olympique in the French Top 14 rugby union competition.

After beginning his AFL career, Hunt was named in the Courier Mail 2011 Queensland Australian rules football Team of the Year.

Overall, however, his 4-year stint in the AFL received mixed reviews, though one highlight was when he kicked the match-winning goal against which broke the club's twelve-month winning drought.

In 2015, he returned to rugby union, playing for the Queensland Reds and New South Wales Waratahs.

In February 2015, Hunt was arrested and charged with four counts for the supply of cocaine for personal use or to on-supply cocaine to friends and colleagues between June and December 2014.

He made his international debut for Australia (the Wallabies) in 2017 and has won six caps.