CAIRNS, AUSTRALIA - JULY 14: Karmichael Hunt of the Suns celebrates victory after kicking the match winning goal after the final siren during the round 16 AFL match between the Richmond Tigers and the Gold Coast Suns at Cazaly's Stadium on July 14, 2012 in Cairns, Australia. (Photo by Matt King/Getty Images)
Inaugural Gold Coast Suns coach Guy McKenna has revealed he didn't want the Suns to sign rugby code-hopper Karmichael Hunt.
Hunt was poached by the Suns in 2009 from the NRL's Brisbane Broncos, signing a huge $3 million deal over three years.
McKenna advised against signing the cross-code athlete at the time, but the AFL and the club still went ahead with the deal.
“I’ll be honest, I wasn’t keen (on signing Karmichael Hunt),” McKenna told SEN Breakfast.
“Because I was a young coach, we had a big list and I kept saying to our recruiting people, ‘We need everyone that can play’ and we had the smallest coaching group.
“I didn’t want to take Ken Hinkley away from coaching our fellas to have a special project in Karmichael Hunt.
“He was there, he was fantastic, he was a big body that we just desperately needed.
“But I would have loved a big body that actually spent his time in football, not gone off and played rugby league.
“He ended up playing 44 games, so he served his purpose on the field and off the field. We had fantastic community support thanks to K.”