Ned Hanigan and Karmichael Hunt take very different journeys to gold Wallabies jersey

KARMICHAEL Hunt and Ned Hanigan were the shock selections in the Wallabies team. But can you guess which one grew up mimicking one of the All Blacks’ greatest magicians?

Ned Hanigan is set for his Wallabies debut.

THERE are two debutants in the Wallabies’ starting side for the opening Test of the year against Fiji, and one of them used to practice the haka and emulate Carlos Spencer in the backyard.

It wasn’t Karmichael Hunt.

Coonamble product Ned Hanigan, a shock selection at blindside flanker after playing just 13 Super Rugby games for NSW, recalled how he first developed his dream to play for the Wallabies.

Ned Hanigan is set for his Wallabies debut.

“Watching it on TV, I remember going over to the next door neighbour’s house and there was about five or six families, when Carlos Spencer and Bernie [Stephen Larkham] and those sort of fellas,” Hanigan said.

“I used to imitate the haka at the start of the game.

“It was kind of a family get-together and you just see that gold jersey running around the field and automatically it’s a dream.”

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Hanigan conceded he practised “flashy back” moves in his younger years.

“I liked all the flashy shoes, I didn’t go into the forwards until I was about 16, had a bit of a stint at outside centre, which I don’t think I’d be anywhere near here,” Hanigan said.

“But I did think I was a flashy back, back then.”

Carlos Spencer leads the haka at the 2003 World Cup.

Hanigan hopes a full crowd will turn out at the local pub in his home town to watch the 3pm match.

“I haven’t been to a pub in Coonamble for a while, the Bucking Bull there might have a few locals in it,” he said.

Hunt, meanwhile, has had an altogether different journey to his gold jersey.

Chosen to start at inside centre in his debut, Hunt will become just the second man behind teammate Israel Folau to represent Australia in both rugby codes and also play in the AFL.

Karmichael Hunt during a cleanout drill.

Wallabies coach Michael Cheika has been most impressed with how 30-year-old Hunt put the controversy of his cocaine conviction in 2015 behind him to earn a spot in the side.

“It’s not like he’s changing [codes] when he’s 23, and he’s overcome some hardship even since he’s come to rugby, some difficulties, and that’s what we want in players, we want them to be resilient,” Cheika said.

“His attitude towards footy this year, clearly I think everyone can see, he wants to enjoy every minute he’s out on the paddock.”

Originally published as Ned Hanigan and Karmichael Hunt take very different journeys to gold Wallabies jersey