Karmichael Hunt has revealed his concerns over the Brisbane Broncos' direction following mentor Wayne Bennett's move south sparked his shock signing with the AFL.

Preparing for Gold Coast Suns' AFL debut in April, Hunt indicated he'd still be playing in the NRL if the Broncos had continued to run their operations like they had under long-time coach Bennett, who switched to St George Illawarra late in 2008.

The former Test and Queensland fullback told Alpha Magazine he lost faith and an emotional attachment to the club after a contract meeting with former chief executive Bruno Cullen, football manager Peter Nolan and new coach Ivan Henjak in early 2009.

"It was nothing like the talks I'd had previously, when Wayne had been there," Hunt told Alpha.

"What was said in there really struck a nerve with me and got me thinking about the way things were being run and the way I was being treated.

"That meeting ended my days as a diehard Broncos fan and player.

"From there I was able to step back and look at everything objectively. The emotion was gone."

After starting for the Broncos at 17, Hunt played 126 matches in the NRL over six seasons before leaving the club on a three-year AFL deal in excess of $3 million, more than two-and-a-half times the amount he would have received at Brisbane.

"I still have a lot of friends at the club, but there's no doubt the Broncos club I left at the end of 2009 was very different to the club I arrived at in 2004," the 24-year-old said.

"Looking back, the timing was probably perfect.

"People laugh, but it was never about the money for me. I genuinely felt I had achieved everything I had set out to achieve in my rugby league career.

"I just liked the idea of taking on a challenge I knew most people would think was ridiculous."

With 12 weeks to go before the Suns play their inaugural match against Carlton on April 2, Hunt has trimmed down below 90kg, eight kilos lighter than when he played French rugby union for Biarritz nine months ago.

He has also given himself a strong chance of lining up in defence in the historic match at the Gabba by improving his aerobic fitness, now running 2km time trials in seven minutes.

"To put that in perspective, most of your small forwards and defenders and some of the half-forwards would be around that mark," said Suns assistant coach and Norm Smith Medallist Shaun Hart.

"I don't have any doubt he will get his fitness and running to a level which will allow him to play good minutes through the midfield."

Hawthorn premiership player Campbell Brown, now at Gold Coast, said Hunt's determination made him confident his Suns' teammate would be a success in the AFL.

"I have always said Shane Crawford was the most determined player I had ever seen," said Brown.

"I see a lot of the attributes which made Crawf so special in K.

"He won't let himself fail."

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