Royce Hunt

Royce Hunt

Personal information
Born	(1995-08-13) 13 August 1995 (age 29) Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Height	189 cm (6 ft 2 in)
Weight	115 kg (18 st 2 lb)
Playing information
Position	Prop
Club Years Team Pld T G FG P 2017 Canberra Raiders 1 0 0 0 0 2020–24 Cronulla Sharks 75 8 0 0 32 2025– Wests Tigers 0 0 0 0 0 Total 76 8 0 0 32 Representative Years Team Pld T G FG P 2022–24 Māori All Stars 3 0 0 0 0 2022–23 Samoa 5 1 0 0 4
Source: [1] As of 28 September 2024

Royce Hunt (born 13 August 1995) is a Samoa international rugby league footballer who plays as a prop for the Wests Tigers in the National Rugby League (NRL).

Hunt previously played for the Canberra Raiders and Cronulla Sharks in the NRL.

Early life

Hunt was born in Liverpool, Sydney and is of Samoan, Hawaiian and Maori descent.^{[ citation needed ]} He was educated at Kalgoorlie State High School.^{[ citation needed ]}

Hunt played his junior rugby league for the Willagee Bears and Goldfields Titans in the Western Australia Rugby League, before being signed by the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs.^{[ citation needed ]}

Arriving at Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs, Hunt attended Bass High School and represented the 2013 Australian Schoolboys. ^[2]

Playing career

Early career

In 2014 and 2015, Hunt played for the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs' NYC team. ^[3] In 2016, he joined the Mount Pritchard Mounties in the Intrust Super Premiership NSW. ^[4] After impressing for the Mounties, he gained a contract with the Canberra Raiders for 2017. ^[5]

2017

In round 14 of the 2017 NRL season, Hunt made his NRL debut for Canberra against the Penrith Panthers. ^{[6] [7]}

2018

Hunt made no first grade appearances for Canberra in the 2018 NRL season instead playing for Mounties in the Canterbury Cup NSW competition. ^[8]

2019

Hunt made no appearances for Canberra in the 2019 NRL season. Hunt instead played against for Mounties in the Canterbury Cup NSW competition as they qualified for the finals finishing in 6th place. Hunt played in Mounties elimination final loss against Newtown at Campbelltown Stadium. ^{[9] [10]}

Hunt playing for the Newtown Jets in 2022

On 13 October, it was announced that Hunt had been released by Canberra. ^[11]

2020

In early 2020, Hunt signed a contract to join Cronulla-Sutherland for the 2020 NRL season. ^[12]

In round 8 of the 2020 NRL season, 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. ^[13]

In round 19 against the Sydney Roosters, 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. ^[14]

2021

Hunt played only two games for Cronulla in the 2021 NRL season which saw the club narrowly miss the finals by finishing 9th on the table. ^[15]

2022

Hunt played a total of 19 games for Cronulla in the 2022 NRL season as the club finished second on the table. Hunt played in Cronulla's qualifying final loss to North Queensland but did not feature in Cronulla's elimination semi-final loss to South Sydney. ^[16]

Hunt on international duty with Samoa in 2022

In October Hunt was named in the Samoa squad for the 2021 Rugby League World Cup. ^[17] Hunt played for Samoa in their 2021 Rugby League World Cup final loss to Australia. ^[18]

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, Hunt was sent to the sin bin during Cronulla's 24–20 loss against Canberra for punching Corey Horsburgh. ^[19] Following the match, Hunt spoke with the media and accused Horsburgh of hiding behind other players. Hunt went on to say “As Ricky Stuart 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". ^[20] 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 Sydney Roosters which ended their season. ^[21]

2024

On 18 March, it was announced that Hunt would miss at least 2-4 weeks with a calf injury. ^[22] On 3 September, Hunt was granted a release from his final year of his contract to join a three-year deal with the Wests Tigers for the 2025 season. ^{[23] [24]}

Statistics

NRL

*denotes season competing ^[1]

Season	Team	Matches	T	G	GK %	F/G	Pts
2017	Canberra Raiders	1	0	0	—	0	0
2020	Cronulla-Sutherland	14	1	0	—	0	4
2021		2	0	0	—	0	0
2022		19	3	0	—	0	12
2023		20	3				8
2024		20	1				4
2025	Wests Tigers
Career totals		76	8	0	—	0	32

All Star

Season	Team	Matches	T	G	GK %	F/G	Pts
2022	Māori All Stars	1	0	0	—	0	0
Career totals		1	0	0	—	0	0

International

Season	Team	Matches	T	G	GK %	F/G	Pts
2022	Samoa	5	1	0	—	0	4
Career totals		5	1	0	—	0	4

References

1. "Royce Hunt - Career Stats & Summary". Rugby League Project. 13 August 1995. Retrieved 26 June 2017.
2. "Australians Win Second Test - Australian Secondary Schools Rugby League - FOX SPORTS PULSE". foxsportspulse.com. Retrieved 25 July 2014.
3. "H". Nyc Database. Retrieved 10 June 2017.
4. NRL Digital Media. "NSW Cup Team List: Mounties v Wyong". Raiders. Retrieved 10 June 2017.
5. Rugby League (6 June 2017). "Raiders prop Shannon Boyd ruled out, but Dave Taylor recalled to NRL squad". Canberratimes.com.au. Retrieved 10 June 2017.
6. "Updated team lists: Panthers v Raiders". NRL.com. Retrieved 10 June 2017.
7. NRL Digital Media. "NRL Late Mail: Raiders v Panthers". Raiders. Retrieved 10 June 2017.
8. "Bulldogs Overcome Slow Start to Defeat Mounties". NSWRL.
9. "Finals week 1". NSWRL.
10. "Royce on the hunt for second Canberra game". SMH.
11. "Every club's squad, new deals and market moves for 2020 season". Fox Sports.
12. "Cronulla v Canterbury 2020 trials". www.nrl.com.
13. "Brisbane lose to warriors sharks panthers post wins". www.abc.net.au.
14. "Sydney Roosters defeat Sharks ahead of NRL finals, Shaun Johnson suffers serious injury". www.abc.net.au.
15. "Papenhuyzen back to best as Storm secure minor premiership". www.nrl.com.
16. "Young gun who can solve Sharks' big problem; masterstroke that can't be overlooked: Brutal Review". www.foxsports.com.au.
17. Full list of every squad at the Rugby League World Cup 2021
18. "Rugby League World Cup: James Tedesco stars to seal 12th triumph for Australia in 30-10 win over Samoa". www.skysports.com.
19. "'Called him a few mean words': Raiders enforcer's hilarious response after Sharks sin bin". www.foxsports.com.au.
20. "'He's a weak-gutted dog': Sharks enforcer's shock warning, accuses Horsburgh of hiding". www.foxsports.com.au.
21. "Sydney Roosters score 'wild' 13-12 NRL elimination final win over Cronulla Sharks, Penrith Panthers beat Warriors". www.abc.net.au.
22. "NRL Casualty Ward: Cleary, Moses sidelined; Triple blow for Sharks". www.nrl.com.
23. "Royce Hunt to join Wests Tigers on three-year deal". Wests Tigers. 2 September 2024. Retrieved 4 September 2024.
24. "Hunt granted release from final year of contract". Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks. 2 September 2024. Retrieved 4 September 2024.

External links

• Cronulla Sharks profile
• Canberra Raiders profile
• Samoa profile