Slim Karmichael Hunt drops junk from his trunk ahead of Queensland Reds debut
KARMICHAEL Hunt will play his first game for the Queensland Reds in Saturday night’s trial against the Melbourne Rebels in Cairns.
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KARMICHAEL Hunt has shed 10kg of “junk weight” in the five years between his last rugby fling in Paris and Saturday night’s exciting rebirth as a Queensland Red in Cairns.
Those concerned that it will cost him the running power from fullback that characterised his career with the Brisbane Broncos do not include the upbeat man himself.
“The strength and pace to be effective are there,” Hunt said as he sized up a more varied role with the Reds in his trial debut against the Melbourne Rebels.
“In the off-season, I added about 2kg from my AFL playing weight to get to 91kg and (Reds coach) Richard Graham is happy with that.’’
Hunt has long praised the AFL for turning him into a footballer with truly professional habits and the fast food hits of his youthful Broncos days are history.
“I was 100kg and carrying junk weight by the time I finished in rugby (with Biarritz in 2010). I’m a cleaner, organic eater these days,” Hunt said.
The three-code pioneer wryly noted that his weight gain had been entirely wiped out this week by an untimely bout of gastro.
The sick feeling in his stomach certainly was not from first-game nerves for a player who hopes to extend himself for 60 minutes on Saturday night.
“The only nerves I’ve got is trying to find a polling booth (in Cairns) to vote so I don’t get in trouble,” Hunt said.
“Personally, I’ve not played a game of rugby for a long time so I’m just looking forward to feeling the pace of the game and getting my positioning right.
“The whole Reds squad wants to get started and put into practice what we’ve sort of been preaching at training.
“There’ll be match fitness gains, feeling that in-game contract you don’t get at training and executing the game plan we’ve worked on to get keyed up for round one in a few weeks.’’
Cairns should ignite positive memories for Hunt.
A nerveless 30m drop punt after the siren won the Gold Coast Suns a thriller there against Richmond in the 2012 AFL season as Hunt proved his composure in his new sport.
How Hunt works, as an inside and outside support, for experimental young fly half Duncan Paia’aua is the most fascinating aspect of tonight’s trial.
Trying to operate in the face of the abrasive Rebels defence, one of the Melbourne club’s huge gains under coach Tony McGahan last year, is an ideal trial scenario.
The Rebels bushwhacked the Reds 18-13 at Ballymore in a trial a year ago with just that formula.
“Proving they were a good side started for the Rebels at Ballymore last year when they put us under a lot of pressure so we know what we are in for,’’ new Reds skipper James Slipper said.
Originally published as Slim Karmichael Hunt drops junk from his trunk ahead of Queensland Reds debut
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