Early Life
Hunt was born on 17 November 1986 in Auckland, New Zealand, to Hans and Tera Hunt, from Samoa and the Cook Islands respectively. He began playing rugby league at the age of four for the Avondale Wolves before moving to Australia 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 (ACGS).
At ACGS, 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 lock. 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.
In 2004, St. George Illawarra Dragons coach Nathan Brown spoke about Hunt and a discussion he had with recruitment officer Craig Young a year earlier, when Hunt was still under contract with the Broncos. "He’s a terrific player. Craig Young who scouts for us watched him play last year and said give him $80,000 (to lure him to Sydney). I said ‘where would we play him?’ And he (Young) said ‘wing, fullback, centre, five eighth, lock – doesn’t matter because he’ll play first grade and play for Australia for the next 12 years’."
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