| Rex Hunt | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Personal information | |||
| Full name | Rex James Hunt | ||
| Date of birth | (1949-03-07)7 March 1949 (age 76) | ||
| Place of birth | Mentone, Victoria, Australia | ||
| Original team(s) | Parkdale | ||
| Height | 191 cm (6 ft 3 in) | ||
| Weight | 97 kg (214 lb) | ||
| Position(s) | Full-forward/centre half-back | ||
| Playing career1 | |||
| Years | Club | Games (Goals) | |
| 1968–1974 | Richmond | 113 (121) | |
| 1974–1975 | Geelong | 32(44) | |
| 1976–1978 | St Kilda | 57 (111) | |
| 1980–1981 | Sandringham | 38 (203) | |
| Total | 240 (479) | ||
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 1978. | |||
| Career highlights | |||
| |||
| Sources:AFL Tables,AustralianFootball.com | |||
Rex James Hunt (born 7 March 1949) is an Australian television and radio personality. A formerAustralian rules footballer, he became a commentator known for his habit of making up quirky nicknames for players. He has also been known around the world for fishing and wildlife programs on theSeven Network and overseas stations. He was a former police officer who reached the senior rank of Sergeant inVictoria Police at age 30.[1] He also previously owned a restaurant, theD'lish Fish located inPort Melbourne.
Hunt was born inMentone, Victoria, and attendedMordialloc High School. He joined the police force as a cadet after leaving school.[1] In 1970, he was called up tonational service.[2]
Hunt was recruited fromParkdale byRichmond and made his debut in the thenVictorian Football League in 1968. He was a key position player who was usually positioned atfull-forward orcentre half-forward. Later he played atcentre half-back. He was part of Richmond's premiership sides in 1969 and 1973. In the middle of 1974, Hunt moved to theGeelong Football Club due to his work as a policeman. As a big strong forward he played with Geelong in 1974 and 1975, playing 32 games for the club before moving back to Melbourne and playing withSt Kilda. He retired from VFL football at the end of the 1978 season, but continued to play in the lower-levelVFA in 1980 and 1981 withSandringham. He won theFrosty Miller Medal for kicking 110 goals in 1981.
G | Goals | K | Kicks | D | Disposals | T | Tackles |
B | Behinds | H | Handballs | M | Marks |
| Season | Team | No. | Games | Totals | Averages (per game) | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | B | K | H | D | M | T | G | B | K | H | D | M | T | ||||
| 1968 | Richmond | 43 | 13 | 16 | 25 | 144 | 15 | 159 | 97 | — | 1.2 | 1.9 | 11.1 | 1.2 | 12.2 | 7.5 | — |
| 1969 | Richmond | 5 | 20 | 55 | 45 | 153 | 14 | 167 | 93 | — | 2.8 | 2.3 | 7.7 | 0.7 | 8.4 | 4.7 | — |
| 1970 | Richmond | 5 | 16 | 36 | 34 | 140 | 28 | 168 | 104 | — | 2.3 | 2.1 | 8.8 | 1.8 | 10.5 | 6.5 | — |
| 1971 | Richmond | 5 | 20 | 4 | 3 | 240 | 24 | 264 | 141 | — | 0.2 | 0.2 | 12.0 | 1.2 | 13.2 | 7.1 | — |
| 1972 | Richmond | 5 | 14 | 1 | 2 | 156 | 16 | 172 | 66 | — | 0.1 | 0.1 | 11.1 | 1.1 | 12.3 | 4.7 | — |
| 1973 | Richmond | 5 | 23 | 4 | 3 | 270 | 18 | 288 | 114 | — | 0.2 | 0.1 | 11.7 | 0.8 | 12.5 | 5.0 | — |
| 1974 | Richmond | 5,6 | 7 | 5 | 11 | 65 | 8 | 73 | 40 | — | 0.7 | 1.6 | 9.3 | 1.1 | 10.4 | 5.7 | — |
| 1974 | Geelong | 5,6 | 15 | 26 | 17 | 221 | 20 | 241 | 137 | — | 1.7 | 1.1 | 14.7 | 1.3 | 16.1 | 9.8 | — |
| 1975 | Geelong | 6 | 17 | 18 | 12 | 139 | 17 | 156 | 85 | — | 1.1 | 0.8 | 8.7 | 1.1 | 9.8 | 5.3 | — |
| 1976 | St Kilda | 2 | 22 | 21 | 31 | 259 | 40 | 299 | 168 | — | 1.0 | 1.4 | 11.8 | 1.8 | 13.6 | 7.6 | — |
| 1977 | St Kilda | 2 | 18 | 52 | 31 | 180 | 18 | 198 | 103 | — | 2.9 | 1.9 | 10.0 | 1.0 | 11.0 | 5.7 | — |
| 1978 | St Kilda | 5 | 17 | 38 | 29 | 163 | 35 | 198 | 106 | — | 2.2 | 1.8 | 9.6 | 2.1 | 11.6 | 6.2 | — |
| Career | 202 | 276 | 243 | 2130 | 253 | 2383 | 1254 | — | 1.4 | 1.2 | 10.6 | 1.3 | 11.9 | 6.3 | — | ||
After his retirement as a player, Hunt became a popular football commentator for3AW. He also hosted Sunday morning panel shows on theSeven Network,the Sportsworld Footy Panel andI'm Rex Hunt and You're Not. Early in the 2007 season, Rex celebrated his 1,500th game as a commentator of VFL/AFL games.[citation needed] He announced his resignation from3AW to joinTriple M on 17 November 2009.[4]
In 2008, Hunt gave a poetic tribute to fellow commentatorClinton Grybas, who died unexpectedly at 32 years old.[5]
Hunt announced his retirement from mainstream metropolitan commentary in 2011;[6] however, he continued as a commentator forCrocmedia's AFL coverage, calling alongside Peter Donegan. In 2015, Hunt called his 2,000th game of AFL football[7]
In April 2014, Hunt started a new radio show on SEN 1116 calledThis Is Your Football Life exploring the lives and achievements of various VFL/AFL football legends. The show is produced by Crocmedia and airs on Sunday mornings.[8]
In 2017, Hunt returned to3AW as host of a new post-match talkback program.[9] After Richmond advanced to a preliminary final against the GWS Giants, Hunt also commentated on a Richmond-centric "Tiger Radio" broadcast on AFL Nation with fellow Tiger footballersDale Weightman andTony Jewell.[10]
In July 2021, Hunt parted ways with3AW after an on-air disagreement with management.[11]
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Hunt is best known for his commentary on3AW and has a penchant for making up nicknames for players such as "not a well man" forSean Wellman of theEssendon Football Club; "Doctor Christiaan Barnard" for Essendon Football Club playerPaul Barnard; "Ot 'n' Sticky" forGeelong footballerBrad Ottens; "Yellow Brick Croad" forHawthorn footballerTrent Croad; "Oysters Kilpatrick" forGeelong footballerGlenn Kilpatrick; "Special Fried Rice" for ex-Carlton footballerDean Rice; "Premium Light" forWestern Bulldogs footballerMitch Hahn; "The Mediator" forKangaroos footballerTroy Makepeace; "Heavy Overnight Dew" forPort Adelaide footballerStuart Dew; "Horney Torney" forRichmond andAdelaide footballerJason Torney; "Awesome Wells" forKangaroos playerDaniel Wells; "Hooligan" forBlues playerRyan Houlihan; "Thomas the Tank" forCollingwood playerDale Thomas; "Brogan Josh" forPort Adelaide playerDean Brogan; "Yaaaablett!!" forGeelong starGary Ablett; and "Presti-gee-a-perry-como" forCollingwood playerSimon Prestigiacomo. He is also known for hisfat-lady-sings impression and the build-up that surrounds it when he (she) bellows out a tune declaring the match over. He was also known for "Listen to the fans", a feature he did during the 2006 and 2007 season after a player kicked a goal, when "Listen to the Band" byThe Monkees was played.
In 1981, Hunt was giving regular radio fishing reports and had made two videos on the subject. His first television fishing show wasAngling Action on theTen Network. Two series of 13 episodes were made and were shown in 1981 and 1982, respectively. His3DB radio fishing show began in 1982. Throughout the 1980s, Hunt continued to write for a number of newspapers and magazines. In 1991, a series ofRex Hunt's Fishing World was made and broadcast inVictoria onChannel Seven. A new and longer series of the show went national asRex Hunt's Fishing Australia the following year. In 1992, the name changed again toRex Hunt's Fishing Adventure, which remained on air until 2004. He also had a show on radio 1116 SEN hosting a fishing program calledOff The Hook with son-in-law Lee Raynor.
Hunt's two most famous catchphrases from these shows were "Folks, it doesn't get any better than this!" as he reeled in a huge fish from the waters of one of Australia's most beautiful natural areas and, at the end of each episode, "It's yibbida-yibbida time!", a parody of theWarner Brothers' cartoon characterPorky Pig saying "Be-bidda be-bidda be-bidda be... That's all, folks." He also had a famous habit of kissing the fish he didn't keep before releasing them.[12][13][14][15][16]
Hunt also made public pronouncements regarding the "thugs in the scallop industry" and their dredging ofPort Phillip Bay, describing their actions as "dizzy stuff". He and a group of anglers and activists were successful in removing the dredging boats and restoring fish populations within the bay.[citation needed]
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In May 2004, Hunt made a curious attempt to make a statement about airline security, which has been markedly increased in Australia after terrorist threats. Hunt was agitated at having to remove his pants and footwear after setting off a metal detector. He then took ten metal forks from theQantas Club and took them on board a Qantas flight fromAdelaide headed forMelbourne in an attempt to prove that airport security was totally flawed. A concerned passenger who did not recognise Hunt alerted the flight crew and he was detained on arrival in Melbourne, where he was questioned for approximately 30 minutes and let go without any charges filed against him.
Hunt was involved in a controversial incident involving a racial slur in 2005, when he called Collingwood'sLeon Davis, who is of Aboriginal descent, 'as black as a dog' during the call againstEssendon mid-way through the season. Hunt made the comment when he trailed off while saying "Neon Leon hasn't lit up tonight; he's as black as a dog's guts in the night", claiming it was to describe Davis's poor form in that match in terms of aneon lights metaphor; other members of the commentary team had been using different neon lights metaphors in the same context. Hunt's apology to Davis was initially rejected,[17] and only accepted later in the week after a face-to-face meeting.[18]
In 2005, Hunt and his son were involved in an incident in Byron Bay where he claimed to have been attacked by local teenagers.[19] The teenagers involved, however, claim Hunt was extremely intoxicated at the time and that his son had thrown the first punch.[20][21]
On 17 May 2006,News Ltd exposed Hunt's 15 years of secret sexual liaisons.[22] When confronted, Hunt confessed he had paid three women in succession for ongoing sexual relationships over a period of more than 15 years. The final relationship, with a beautician in her 30s, began in 1997 and cost Hunt $1000 a week. Hunt acknowledged he is a hypocrite given his repeated attacks on other media personalities for sexual infidelity.[23] Hunt followed this by an interview with radio broadcasterNeil Mitchell on Melbourne radio 3AW. A quote from Rex Hunt's radio comments,
That's what a fool does. I'm invincible, I'm paying money... uh... The girl's happy, she's got no money, I got my rocks off. How good is this?
has gained its own notoriety by being featured repeatedly on nationalTriple M radio programGet This hosted byTony Martin,Ed Kavalee andRichard Marsland. Robyn Hood, 40 at the time, one of the three women involved, subsequently sold her story toNew Idea magazine. Robyn was quoted as saying:
Rex was never unfaithful to Lynne. "We never had sex... he was affectionate, very touchy-feely... then he'd either, in the car or out of it, depending on how cold it was, fling off all his clothes. The more public, the greater the danger and the more exciting Rex apparently found it.[24]
Rex Hunt's wife of thirty four years, Lynne, said she would stand by Hunt and also revealed she suffers frombipolar disorder, which had placed pressure on the couple's relationship.[22]
In 2009, Hunt was found guilty of recklessly causing injury after allegations he bashed a cyclist with his own bicycle in a Melbourneroad-rage attack. He was sentenced to perform 100 hours unpaid community work, without conviction.[25]
In December 2021, it was reported that Hunt confronted and thwarted a would-be thief when a reporter’s laptop bag was snatched during an exhibition boxing match in Melbourne.[26]
He became embroiled in a high-profile hostile war of words after making a Facebook rant calling for controversialAFL Hall of FamerWayne Carey to replace AFLW championDaisy Pearce on Channel 7’s live football coverage.[27]
In January 2023, at 2:15 am, Hunt called police after pulling over his car to the side of the road in a health emergency, where he was subsequently taken to hospital. Before and since, Hunt has opened up about his mental health struggles that have dogged him since his retirement from playing football:[26]
I was gone ... despite the clown of the circus having a rubber nose, behind the makeup and rubber nose may well be the loneliest person in the world.
Rex is married to wife Lynne and has three sons and one daughter.
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