The AFL's code-hopping experiment is still very much in the test tube stage after Karmichael Hunt made a less than ideal debut for the Gold Coast Suns.

Starting on a halfback flank, Hunt's assignments were varied in the Gold Coast's heavy 26.15 (171) to 7.10 (52) defeat, with no fewer than three opponents in the opening quarter.

When the positional merry-go-round finally stopped midway through the opening term, Hunt found himself conceding more than a dozen centimetres to Carlton's towering 201cm ruck-forward Shaun Hampson.

The Blues tried a few times to isolate Hunt so he was one-out with Hampson deep in attack.

However the former Brisbane Bronco was moved to avoid the mismatch, picking up Bret Thornton for most of the second half, and at times was even a spare man in defence.

So far as stats and skill levels are concerned, Hunt looked uncomfortable with the pace of the game and his disposal under pressure left a lot to be desired.

When the ball was within close proximity in the backline he tended to prop and watch rather than take a proactive role and was caught short a number of times.

One glaring example was in the second term - when the Suns turned over the ball, Hunt watched the hectic chain of handpasses and the short kick land in the hands of the Blues' Chris Judd, who was standing unguarded and just five metres away.

He spent a lot of time talking and pointing to teammates and even back-chatted the umpire after giving away a blatant free kick in front of goal after getting in the face of Hampson in a marking contest.

Even though the ball spent a lot of time in Hunt's part of the field, he finished with two kicks, three handpasses, no marks and had the fewest touches for the Suns.

Hunt's venture into the AFL world started in mid-2009 when he announced he would jump codes.

He didn't officially start training until midway through last year and was one of 12 debutants for the Suns in their historic first AFL match.

There's also no doubt Hunt's former teammates are eager to plot his progress.

Among the 27,914 spectators at the Gabba were Broncos captain Darren Lockyer and several of his NRL teammates.

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