Gold Coast coach Guy McKenna will give Karmichael Hunt a wide-ranging, onfield introduction to his new sport when the code-hopping star joins the AFL franchise in May.

Hunt’s stint in French rugby ends in May, although he will not arrive back in Australia until late in the month if his club Biarritz advances to the grand final.

McKenna is sticking by his plan to play Hunt in just two VFL games this season ahead of his planned AFL debut in 2011 when the Coast join the top tier as the 17th club.

Speaking on Wednesday, McKenna could hardly contain his excitement at the prospect of slotting the former Brisbane Broncos NRL star into his team.

“I can’t wait, he’s a driven individual,” McKenna said.

“He’s probably going to teach us more about where he should play, rather than us telling him where he should play.

“I’m going to get him out there, throw him in the deep end – play him forward, play him back, play him through the midfield – and hopefully I can do that over a two-game experience for him.

“Then we can sit back and say ‘right this is where I reckon he’s going to play, this is where he felt comfortable, what does he need to do in that position?’

“I think it’d be fairly silly for us to go and pigeon-hole him right now – this is what he needs to do, this is how strong he needs to be, this is how fast he needs to run, how far he needs to run – all those sorts of things, until he’s actually played the game.

“But as I said, he’s a driven individual, he’s achieved a lot in such an early career as a footballer whether that’s in rugby league or rugby union, and I know he’s going to make this post a winner as well.”

McKenna said Hunt, 23, had fully recovered from a hamstring injury.

-AAP