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 made his debut for the Brisbane Broncos in the National Rugby League in 2004 and won the Dally M Rookie of the Year award. 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. Hunt's performance in the 2006 NRL season resulted in his selection for Queensland and Australia (the Kangaroos) in 2006.
In July 2009 he signed a three-year contract with Australian Football League expansion team, Gold Coast, whose inaugural season was in 2011. 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. He made his international debut for Australia (the Wallabies) in 2017 and has won six caps.
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.
Early life
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. 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.