Hunt opts out at Cronulla in favour of new deal with Wests Tigers

Goldfields rugby league product Royce Hunt will continue his successful NRL career with Wests Tigers on a three-year deal.

Hunt, 29, made 70 appearances for the Cronulla Sharks, but was last week granted a release from the final year of his contract.

Wests Tigers coach Benji Marshall was glowing of his appraisal of Hunt, who was born in Sydney but spent his formative years in Kalgoorlie-Boulder.

“He’s a tough and uncompromising (player), and more importantly, he’s a good human,” Marshall said.

Hunt is from one of the region’s most prominent rugby league families and was identified as a future star while growing up in the Goldfields.

It prompted him to move back to Sydney at age 15 as part of the Canterbury Bulldogs’ development program.

He made his NRL debut seven years ago for the Canberra Raiders, but nearly quit the game.

But he was talked out of retirement by Canberra’s then high-performance director and inaugural Western Reds coach, the late Peter Mulholland, and joined Cronulla, where he debuted in 2020.

The past few years have been career-defining for Hunt — underpinned by a 2022 appearance for Samoa in the World Cup final against Australia.