IT WAS May 23 and on an oval outside Visy Park, Jason McCartney, Nathan Buckley and Kevin Sheehan – all representing the AFL’s talent department – were awaiting the arrival of one man.

That man was Karmichael Hunt.

The previous night, Hunt and his Brisbane Broncos side had beaten the Wests Tigers in an NRL clash in Sydney’s south-west.

The next morning, however, the Queensland and Australian rugby league full-back was on a plane, being picked up in Melbourne by Gold Coast recruiting manager Scott Clayton.

Hunt’s girlfriend, Emma Harding – the sister of Brisbane Lions midfielder, Scott – was also present, watching on as her partner strutted his stuff in front of some of the most astute talent watchers in the land.

And McCartney says after completing a 30-40 minute session, he left convinced that Hunt had all the tools required to make a smooth transition to Australian football.

“Scott Clayton rang (AFL game development manager) Dave Matthews within 30 seconds of his first kick, and he couldn’t hide his excitement,” McCartney told afl.com.au on Wednesday.

“His kicking action is natural. As natural as any kid we’ve got in the talent pathway.

“His non-preferred side was fine. Obviously, not as good as his right, but technically he’s very good.”

McCartney said the group soon moved onto handball and marking drills with the rugby league star.

While having to coax Hunt to take the ball in his hands – rather than the chest mark style preferred by most rugby league full backs – the 22-year-old showed he was proficient at any task the trio set him on the day.

“Obviously the romance in all this could sweep a lot of people up, but we didn’t have to dress anything up … we just saw a very, very good technique,” McCartney said.

“I’m sure that some people in the northern states will be thinking ‘this is a publicity stunt, surely he can’t do it’ but his athletic attributes are superb. He’s an elite athlete.”

Before the secret testing session, McCartney had been uncertain what he would see from the International league star.

“I didn’t know what to expect but I’d heard (AFL Queensland’s talent manager) Mark Browning talk about him before,” he said.

“When he arrived he was in his casual gear, in his jeans and thongs and he slipped on a pair of, I think it might have been Converse shoes, and I thought, ‘this is going to be an interesting session.

“But in a way, it was very pleasing what we saw. I mean it wasn’t totally surprising because Mark Browning’s a very good judge

“It was more of a surprise for Bucks. Bucks wouldn’t have been across most of his background in terms of him playing a bit of AFL but the great thing about Bucks is he doesn’t dress anything up; he tells it how it is.”