Karmichael Hunt

[Rodney Dangerfield]

Credit to the suns and the AFL in general. They obviously head hunted him knowing what a true professional he is.
You can feel the respect growing from everyone fans,players,media and it's all due to Karmichael absolutely doing everything possible to be the best he can.

I think people sort of looked at him on the beginning as though he was taking the piss out of our game and was like a sideshow freak.Now everyone is pleasantly surprised and genuinely thrilled for him.

No matter what happens from here it's an amazing story.

 

[masai]

Let's put some pespective in here.

Your standard 18 year old recruit to the AFL, will have probably started playing at age 9. Therefore something like 9 years playing at junior level x avergage 15 games a season = 135 games. Add in school games, say 5 x 10 = 50 games.

From those figures, the average recruit has played close to 200 games. Hunt has played 30 - 40 AFL games in total.

He aint doing too bad, I like him.

 

[woopedazz]

I like how his team gets around him and he gets around them. The whole GC side seems like they want to see each other succeed. Maybe minus Day who appears to be a lazy sack of shit who can never get match fit.

 

[The Passenger]

pretty impressive game last night.

as someone said the big thing is he's proven now he's not just joined the AFL to pick up a pay cheque each week.

that hit on monfries was massive.

he'd be close to the strongest player of his size in the whole competition.

hopefully izzy can make the same improvement because as a physical athelete he is far superior to hunt.

it would be great to know what hunt would've been if he was an aussie rules player his whole life...

 

[Santana]

showed tonight he could be a gun in 3 sports.

Mind boggling

Umm he never was nor never showed he could be a gun at Union.

 

[84GF]

Umm he never was nor never showed he could be a gun at Union.

This is the Karmichael Hunt thread - facts have no place here!

 

[Dumpstar]

Liked his game last night and really want him to succeed.

Well done Karmichael.

 

[Lasso]

Did I say he was bad? I just said to settle down, he wasn't fantastic. Conditions suited him as well.

Also in a couple of years he'll be 27-28, doubt he'll improve THAT much.

Speaking from experience, as he's come from a sport where endurance isn't important, an extra 2 pre seasons will make a huge difference given the development curve he is on.

Instead of fading after half time like he did last night, he'll be more capable of impacting the majority of the match from the middle.
Remember, less than a yr ago he was cramping after playing deep in the forward or back line.

 

[Scroater]

When Bock kicked that left footer for a goal, they had the camera on K.Hunt and you could see the genuine pleasure he got from his team scoring a goal and a team mate doing well. Unlike most unemotional robots these days. Didn't think it was a good idea getting him, but I'm starting to turn.

 

[bradrowe#32]

Was great last night. Good on him for working hard and persevering.

 

[exile]

His mental strength is superior in comparison to Folau. In an interview I saw with Izzy after a match he looked really down (obviously because they got whalloped), and a few of the things he said sounded really weak. Karmichael has always been positive and strong willed when facing the tough questions. I have no doubt he loves the game.

Hunt has shown through his perseverance he can play at the top level. I'm so ecstatic of his performance last night. Really impressive.

[youtube]PzlJmxu77xo[/youtube]

 

[TBoyleSuperstar]

When Bock kicked that left footer for a goal, they had the camera on K.Hunt and you could see the genuine pleasure he got from his team scoring a goal and a team mate doing well. Unlike most unemotional robots these days. Didn't think it was a good idea getting him, but I'm starting to turn.

This is what impressed me most. You can see he is acompetitive beast and that goal got the Suns going and you could see he was pumped.

He's never going to be a Judd, Ablett, Bartell or someone like that, but he looks to be developing into a handy player and becoming more than just a sideshow.

 

[Bennett.]

I really like the guy and hope he succeeds. Even though he played against us last night, I was half cheering him on!

 

[Air_Chester]

His mental strength is superior in comparison to Folau. In an interview I saw with Izzy after a match he looked really down (obviously because they got whalloped), and a few of the things he said sounded really weak. Karmichael has always been positive and strong willed when facing the tough questions. I have no doubt he loves the game.

Hunt has shown through his perseverance he can play at the top level. I'm so ecstatic of his performance last night. Really impressive.

[youtube]PzlJmxu77xo[/youtube]

Best game he has played, no doubt. The announcers need to tone it down a bit, but his role as "The Enforcer" is the perfect niche and I think he'll do very well for himself.

His effort and legitimate leadership in getting the boys fired up is ironic: He was labelled a mercenary but he brings some actual soul to what people have called a soulless franchise. He's fiery, rough as guts, and the scary thing is that the day is close at hand where every time Gary Ablett gets one of his 40+ touches the opposition will know there's a beastly bloke within 5-10 metres ready to flatten them if they try to catch him. As if Ablett wasn't hard enough to stop already.

That shirt front on Monfries was old school footy as it should be, absolutely loved it.

On the Folau front, I completely agree with exile: After the first GWS match his interview was downtrodden and quite frankly depressing, whereas Hunt comes off as determined and upbeat at all times. Hunt seems like he's having the time of his life, but Izzy's attitude made it seem like can't wait to pack his bags back to League. I'd hope against it, because while he doesn't have Hunt's odd charisma, he has more natural ability and if he sticks with it they'll find his niche, too.

On the funny side of things, love K-Hunt pulling out the fist bump and flashing what is close enough to gang signs in that video. I chuckled. If they could get Folau to Gold Coast they'd pretty much be the Bash Brothers from Mighty Ducks.

 

[TooFar]

League
Union
AFL

Was really good last night. Put on some great tackles and added some much needed physicality to the team. Even his ability to break tackles was fantastic

Can someone shed some light on my ignorance? I always thought rugby league and rugby union were pretty much similar games utilizing similar skills. What are the different skills required for each game?

 

[weevil]

Can someone shed some light on my ignorance? I always thought rugby league and rugby union were pretty much similar games utilizing similar skills. What are the different skills required for each game?

Someone who did not know footy would probably say that it and Gaelic football are pretty much the same just with a different shaped ball.

To an outside observer they are very similar, and while there are lots of crossovers the way they are played makes them pretty different.

 

[Natho]

He did look good on the weekend! It's exciting to see him developing. He seems to have good take off speed for a big fella.

 

[IanW]

Can someone shed some light on my ignorance? I always thought rugby league and rugby union were pretty much similar games utilizing similar skills. What are the different skills required for each game?

The tactical stuff is radically different.

Briefly, when a tackle is made in rugby league, and the ball isnt going anywhere, the umpire blows his whistle and the player gets up from the tackle, the defensive line retreats ten meters and play restarts with the ball being rolled back by foot to another attacking player.

In Union, the tackled player lets go of the ball, and theres a ball there, somewhere. Various rules about how you are allowed to get it and when then apply.

Loving to see campaigner turn into the inside midfield enforcer he was hired to be. I note how quiet the haters have been recently in this thread.

 

[POBT]

Umm he never was nor never showed he could be a gun at Union.

He played fly half for Biarritz in a European Cup final and acquitted himself very well. He was also an absolute star at the underaged/schools level of Rugby Union.

I think it is reasonable to assume that he would have made a fair fist of Rugby had he stuck with it.

 

[muzzington]

This is what impressed me most. You can see he is acompetitive beast and that goal got the Suns going and you could see he was pumped.

He's never going to be a Judd, Ablett, Bartell or someone like that, but he looks to be developing into a handy player and becoming more than just a sideshow.

Yeah, that was a great moment not only for Hunt but Bock. He looked overjoyed.

 

[Dr Tigris]

Can someone shed some light on my ignorance? I always thought rugby league and rugby union were pretty much similar games utilizing similar skills. What are the different skills required for each game?

Not an expert.
League - the game is run into guys, run into guys, run into guys. Then the best add sublime angles and tight passing to that power - the top teams have intricate running patterns in close.
So you need power and toughness - to know a limited but intricate game plan - and the mental toughness to hit and be hit in a way you never get in the AFL.

Rugby - The game is much more varied in terms of tactics and roles, because the play does not stop, so teams don't get to totally set up each tackle. Usually a lot more kicking than RL, the best kicks nail pin point 50m+ kicks under the pressure getting hammered by someone coming full steam at them. The backs have to run in the open more (depending on the game plan) and so are often similar to AFL in physique. They also have more techical scrums and line outs meaning there is a role for long lanky guys that doesn't really exist in RL.

When rugby went professional they played a game each of rugby and RL with teams of rugby vs RL players. In each teams native game they totally dominated. The other team could play but were like ducks out of water. Only the forwards play a fairly similar role - although even there there are lot of differences.

 

[cos789]

Can someone shed some light on my ignorance? I always thought rugby league and rugby union were pretty much similar games utilizing similar skills. What are the different skills required for each game?

RL is a stripped down version of RU.
Lots of short runs and tackles with only the occassional diversion.
RU is a lot more diversified with numerous scrums, rucks, line-outs and tactical kicking. There is not too much difference for the backs in both codes except for the workload in rl.

 

[keepzitreal]

loved his game on saturday... pity we (the bombers) had to be his first scalp... save that aggro for the Blues and Pies campaigner

 

[Rodney Dangerfield]

21 touches. There's another little milestone ticked off.
Sensational to watch him continually develop.

 

[chinggis77]

Yeah, was good in the bits I saw of him when I flicked between channels. Has some real explosiveness about him as well in the clinches. Could become a very good player with a bit more time. Kudos to him.