HUNT REAPS REWARDS OF A NEW TAKE ON LIFE
IN wilder days, Mad Monday would have a signalled a week of boozy excess for Karmichael Hunt and beckoned all the potential pitfalls.
The grateful Hunt, 30, is Australian rugby’s Mr Second Chance because his “new take on life” took over when the Queensland Reds had their wind-up drinks after last year’s poor season.
“Sure, I had drinks with the boys but I pulled up stumps whereas in the past I would have woken up and headed to the pub again the next day,” Hunt said of his three-code career.
“I do feel, er, a lot more evolved than a few years ago.”
Instead, he packed the car last year and headed to Currumbin with wife Emma and their three children on a camping trip.
“It’s a different take on life because I’ve been taught a few lessons,” Hunt said.
Hunt has played with a freedom and intensity from fullback for the Reds this season that demands a Wallabies debut on Saturday against Fiji in Melbourne.
His top form has not just happened with a click of the fingers nor has the inner peace he has found.
Hunt used meditation to help heal anxiety and guilt for the self-inflicted cocaine “mess” of 2015 when his Wallabies ambitions almost combusted before the launch pad was even in view.
How vital that mental process has been for Hunt cannot be underestimated in his fine 11-game Reds run.
He will start Wallabies training in Melbourne today with 25 tackle busts, seven linebreaks, 10 linebreak assists, three tries and 70 stout tackles as his highimpact endorsement.