Cook Islands men’s team possesses a secret weapon at this year’s rugby league world cup – but it’s not on the field.
Stalking the side lines, the dressing room, and training sessions is Karmichael Hunt, the only coach to have won The Frownlow Medal.
The Frownlow Medal is awarded to the player whose off-field demeanour epitomises the values of the modern-day footballer and draws attention to the status of footballers as role models to young Australians. It covers Australia’s four major football codes: the men’s and women’s National Rugby League (NRL), Australian Football League (AFL), the A-League (Football) and Rugby Union’s Super Rugby competition. NRL player Shaun Kenny-Dowall won the inaugural medal in 2015, while AFL player Noah Balta is the most recent recipient.
Hunt won the medal in 2018 after being arrested and charged with four counts for the supply of cocaine for personal use or to on-supply cocaine to friends and colleagues. This was the second time in his football career that he had been found in possession of an illicit substance.
The cross-code star played Rugby League, Rugby Union and Australian Rules Football at the highest level and was the first to ‘unite’ The Frownlow Medal. Hunt is a secret weapon because history proves that every elite football team needs a Frownlow presence in order to win – especially in Rugby League and AFL competitions.
Ironically, someone recently posted a photo of Hunt online in his Cook Islands team kit, above a humorous caption claiming that his shades made him look like a drug dealer.
Acquiring, possessing, and using illicit drugs requires planning, scheming, cunning and strategy, and even though Hunt got caught, he managed to indulge before the law caught up. If he can apply the same guile to the Cook Islands world cup campaign, opposition teams have reason to be scared.
