Karmichael Hunt fighting to stay with reborn Waratahs
Karmichael Hunt’s Waratahs career seemed finished last year when they signed an NRL star, but the 33-year-old triple-code gun is ready to fight for a contract extension.
Rugby
Don't miss out on the headlines from Rugby. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Spending five hours getting to and from work each day during peak hour will sound like torture to most, but for Karmichael Hunt it’s a treasured escape.
The triple-code football star lives in Bowral, and drives to training for the NSW Waratahs in Daceyville most days, filling the time listening to podcasts by Joe Rogan and Stephen A. Smith.
“I come from a home that has my three daughters and my wife, and I come to the footy club that has all my footy mates, so the only time I get to myself is the two-and-a-half hours in the morning and the two-and-a-half hours in the evening, so I’m happy with the drive, if you know what I mean,” Hunt told Rugby Central.
Watch every match of the 2020 Vodafone Super Rugby Season LIVE & On-Demand on KAYO. New to Kayo? Get your 14-day free trial & start streaming instantly >
“I’m one of the elder statesmen of the team chronologically, but biologically I feel great. I’m loving the footy we’re trying to play, that we’re playing in parts.
“The first 20 minutes last week was some of the best footy we’ve played for the past couple of years, so we just want to keep building.”
The 33-year-old’s Super Rugby career was seemingly at an end after last season when he had failed to be offered a new contract and NSW signed Parramatta Eels forward Tepai Moeroa to play inside centre.
Hunt was tipped to head overseas.
But now he is keen to extend his Tahs tenure, which began in 2019 after three years with the Queensland Reds, which came after his stints with the Gold Coast in the AFL and the Brisbane Broncos in the NRL.
“I love what we’re doing here, I love the football, my family loves it down in Bowral, so I’d love to stay if the opportunity came up,” Hunt said.
“[Stability is] huge. Kids are pretty adaptable but for me and more importantly my wife, living down in Bowral, the kids have got a great little school, a good community we’re part of.
“It’s nice for them to be settled in the same school and environment for another year.
“When life outside of footy is great and the family is happy, it makes footy that much easier.
“[My contract negotiation] was ongoing for a while last year. To the Tahs’ credit they had a lot of moving parts, too.
“They had Bernard [Foley] making a decision late, Tolu [Latu] heading overseas as well, Keps (Sekope Kepu) and Curtis [Rona] had made the decision to go overseas.
“It wasn’t my situation that was probably the focal point. There are a lot of young guys they were having to re-sign.
“I was a cog in the wheel that needed to be addressed. It took its time to get there but I’m thankful that I’ve got another opportunity to stay here.
“Although we didn’t know who the coach was going to be, didn’t know who Rob Penney was, having the group we had, the young guys, the energy, with Hoops (Michael Hooper) remaining and the leadership core, I felt whoever was going to step in, Rob or whoever else, that we were going to compete and help this great franchise get back on track.
“And Rob’s stepped in and been amazing for us.”
The Tahs notched their first win of the season last week against the Lions, but if they’re any hope of defeating the Chiefs, Hunt’s midfield defence will be crucial to shutting down playmaking maestro Aaron Cruden.
“He’s been overseas but he hasn’t lost any class, understands how they want to play the New Zealand style, attacking footy and taking opportunities as they see it,” Hunt said.
“He’s someone we’re putting a lot of time into watching vision this week for sure; the way he controls the game, his kicking game, running game as well, numbers on the feet inside and outside him. There are threats all over the park.
“We want to make sure everyone is alert and alive across the field, because you could be four plays away from the play where he is, but you can’t switch off because he’s got kicking options, [players] who can duck back inside, cut passes, all the tools for you to need to be aware across the park.”
NSW created several tries and linebreaks through offloads last week, but wet conditions in Wollongong may lead to a more conservative style on Friday.
“It’s a funny one, offloads, because as much as you want to take on the line and give little passes at the line or post the line, if it’s pouring down rain the probability of those passes sticking as opposed to dry weather is a lot lower,” Hunt said.
“Something as a leadership group we discussed for the games against the Blues in Newcastle and the Rebels in Melbourne, we probably didn’t go into the game with a wet-weather plan — we wanted to throw the footy around and we paid the price ultimately.
“That’s something we have learnt.
“Thankfully we were able to play our attacking style of footy last week but if it comes to Friday night and it’s bucketing down, we’ll adjust accordingly.”
Originally published as Karmichael Hunt fighting to stay with reborn Waratahs