Royce Hunt (born 13 August 1995) is a

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa and known until 1997 as Western Samoa, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania, in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu), two smaller, inhabited ...

international

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

footballer who plays as a for the

Wests Tigers The Wests Tigers is an Australian professional rugby league football team, based in the Inner West of Sydney and South Western Sydney. The Tigers have competed in the National Rugby League (NRL) since being formed at the end of the 1999 N ...

in the

National Rugby League The National Rugby League (also known as the NRL Telstra Premiership for sponsorship reasons) is a professional rugby league competition in Oceania which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria (state), Victoria, the Austral ...

(NRL). Hunt previously played for the

Canberra Raiders The Canberra Raiders are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the national capital city of Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. They have competed in Australasia's elite rugby league competition, the National Rugb ...

and

Cronulla Sharks The Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks are an Australian professional rugby league club based in the Sutherland Shire of Southern Sydney, New South Wales. Cronulla compete in the National Rugby League (NRL), Australasia's premier rugby league compet ...

in the NRL.

Early life

Hunt was born in

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

, Sydney and is of Samoan, Hawaiian and Maori descent. He was educated at Kalgoorlie State High School. Hunt played his junior rugby league for the Willagee Bears and Goldfields Titans in the

Western Australia Rugby League NRL Western Australia (abbreviated as NRLWA, and formerly the Western Australian Rugby League) is responsible for administering the game of rugby league football in the state of Western Australia. The NRLWA administers all forms of the game in ...

, before being signed by the

Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs The Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Belmore, a suburb in the Canterbury-Bankstown region of Sydney. They compete in the NRL Telstra Premiership, as well as competitions facilitated by ...

. Arriving at

, Hunt attended Bass High School and represented the 2013 Australian Schoolboys.

Playing career

Early career

In 2014 and 2015, Hunt played for the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs'

NYC New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive wit ...

team. In 2016, he joined the

Mount Pritchard Mounties The Mounties Rugby League Football Club (sponsored by Mounties Group) is an Australian rugby league football club based in Mount Pritchard, New South Wales formed in 1927. They currently play in the Ron Massey Cup and Sydney Shield. Recent ...

in the

Intrust Super Premiership NSW The NSW Cup, currently known as the Knock-On Effect NSW Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a rugby league competition for clubs in New South Wales. The competition has a history dating back to the NSWRFL's origins in 1908, starting off as a reserve ...

. After impressing for the Mounties, he gained a contract with the

for 2017.

2017

In round 14 of the

2017 NRL season The 2017 NRL season was the 110th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 20th season run by the National Rugby League. The season started in New Zealand with the annual Auckland Nines, and was followed by the All Stars Match, ...

, Hunt made his

NRL The National Rugby League (also known as the NRL Telstra Premiership for sponsorship reasons) is a professional rugby league competition in Oceania which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria (state), Victoria, the Austral ...

debut for Canberra against the

Penrith Panthers The Penrith Panthers are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Greater Western Sydney suburb of Penrith, New South Wales, Penrith that competes in the National Rugby League (NRL). The team is based west of the cen ...

2018

Hunt made no first grade appearances for Canberra in the

2018 NRL season The 2018 NRL season was the 111th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 21st season run by the National Rugby League. The main competition, known as the 2018 Telstra Premiership due to sponsorship from Telstra, featured 16 team ...

instead playing for

Mounties The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP; , GRC) is the Law enforcement in Canada, national police service of Canada. The RCMP is an agency of the Government of Canada; it also provides police services under contract to 11 Provinces and terri ...

in the

Canterbury Cup NSW The NSW Cup, currently known as the Knock-On Effect NSW Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a rugby league competition for clubs in New South Wales. The competition has a history dating back to the NSWRFL's origins in 1908, starting off as a reserve ...

competition.

2019

Hunt made no appearances for Canberra in the

2019 NRL season The 2019 NRL season was the 112th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 22nd season run by the National Rugby League. The Sydney Roosters became the first team to win back-to-back Premierships since the Brisbane Broncos in 1992 ...

. Hunt instead played against for Mounties in the

competition as they qualified for the finals finishing in 6th place. Hunt played in Mounties elimination final loss against Newtown at

Campbelltown Stadium Campbelltown Sports Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Leumeah, a suburb in South Western Sydney, Australia, owned by Campbelltown City Council. Formerly known as Orana Park and Campbelltown Sports Ground, it is currently the home ground ...

On 13 October, it was announced that Hunt had been released by Canberra.

2020

In early 2020, Hunt signed a contract to join Cronulla-Sutherland for the

2020 NRL season The 2020 NRL season was the 113th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 23rd season run by the National Rugby League. Teams The lineup of teams remained unchanged for the 14th consecutive year. ; Notes : : : Pre-season ...

. In round 8 of the

, Hunt scored his first try for Cronulla-Sutherland and his first in the top grade as Cronulla defeated the Gold Coast 40–10 at Cbus Super Stadium. In round 19 against the

Sydney Roosters Eastern Suburbs District Rugby League Football Club, known as the Sydney Roosters are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Sydney's Eastern Suburbs (Sydney), Eastern Suburbs. The club competes in the National Rugby Lea ...

, Hunt was taken from the field during the second half of the game with a leg injury. It was later revealed Hunt had dislocated his right kneecap.

2021

Hunt played only two games for Cronulla in the

2021 NRL season The 2021 NRL season was the 114th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 24th season run by the National Rugby League. Teams The lineup of teams remained unchanged for the 15th consecutive year. Regular season Ladd ...

which saw the club narrowly miss the finals by finishing 9th on the table.

2022

Hunt played a total of 19 games for Cronulla in the

2022 NRL season The 2022 NRL season was the 115th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 25th season run by the National Rugby League. Teams The lineup of teams remained unchanged for the 16th consecutive year. This became the second longest ...

as the club finished second on the table. Hunt played in Cronulla's qualifying final loss to

North Queensland North Queensland or the Northern Region is the northern part of the Australian state of Queensland that lies just south of Far North Queensland. Queensland is a massive state, larger than many countries, and its Tropical North Queensland, trop ...

but did not feature in Cronulla's elimination semi-final loss to South Sydney. Royce Hunt Samoa

In October Hunt was named in the Samoa squad for the

2021 Rugby League World Cup The 2021 Rugby League World Cup (RLWC2021) was a collection of world cups in the sport of rugby league, held in England from 15 October to 19 November 2022. England won hosting rights for the competition on 27 October 2016. The bid received � ...

. Hunt played for Samoa in their 2021 Rugby League World Cup final loss to Australia.

2023

Hunt represented New Zealand Māori all stars team as starting prop, losing against the Australian Indigenous team, 28–24. In round 3 of the

2023 NRL season The 2023 NRL season was the 116th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 26th season run by the National Rugby League. The season consisted of 27 competition rounds, the longest in league history, followed by a finals series ...

, Hunt was sent to the sin bin during Cronulla's 24–20 loss against Canberra for punching

Corey Horsburgh Corey Horsburgh (born 5 January 1998) is an Australian rugby league footballer who primarily plays as a or for the Canberra Raiders in the National Rugby League (NRL). Horsburgh played for Queensland Maroons at State of Origin level in 2023 ...

. Following the match, Hunt spoke with the media and accused Horsburgh of hiding behind other players. Hunt went on to say “As

Ricky Stuart Ricky John "Sticky" Stuart (born 7 January 1967) is an Australian professional rugby league football coach who is the head coach of Canberra in the National Rugby League (NRL) and a former rugby league footballer who played as a in the 1980 ...

would say, he's a weak-gutted dog, We'll get him next game, I have never seen a front-rower hide behind a halfback, You can't just hold me in and push me over and not expect anything. I was a bit upset about that". Hunt played a total of 20 games for Cronulla in the 2023 NRL season as Cronulla finished sixth on the table. Hunt played in the clubs 13–12 upset loss against the

which ended their season.

2024

On 18 March, it was announced that Hunt would miss at least 2-4 weeks with a calf injury. On 3 September, Hunt was granted a release from his final year of his contract to join a three-year deal with the

for the 2025 season.

2025

In round 1 of the

2025 NRL season The 2025 NRL season is the 118th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 28th season run by the National Rugby League (NRL). The regular season will be followed by a finals series contested by the top eight teams on the competiti ...

, Hunt made his club debut for the Wests Tigers against Newcastle.

Statistics

NRL

: *denotes season competing

All Star

International

References

External links

Cronulla Sharks profileCanberra Raiders profileSamoa profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hunt, Royce 1995 births Living people Australian rugby league players Australian sportspeople of Samoan descent Australian people of Māori descent Canberra Raiders players Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks players Wests Tigers players Mount Pritchard Mounties players New Zealand Māori rugby league players New Zealand Māori rugby league team players Rugby league props Rugby league second-rows Rugby league locks Rugby league players from Liverpool, New South Wales Samoa national rugby league team players Samoan rugby league players Sportspeople from Kalgoorlie 21st-century Australian sportsmen