New England Nomads star Tom Hunt has coached, won premierships and played in representative matches and now he's about to reach a special milestone.
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Hunt will play his 100th game for the club- just the seventh player to do so - against the Tamworth Kangaroos.
"I'm looking forward to Saturday," Hunt said.
"Having been with the club since 2005 I've been fortunate to meet a lot of people and have made some great mates, the milestone is just a little bonus."
Hunt grew up in the Armidale area and "played a mixture of sports" before stepping onto the Australian Rules Football field in his second year of university.
He hasn't looked back.
He played the 2005 and 2006 seasons with the Nomads before moving to Newcastle and linking up with Newcastle City where he played from 2007 to 2013.
In 2014 re-joined the New England club and has been part of it ever since.
In a career littered with highlights, Hunt names being part of the Nomads' five straight premierships, mentoring young players and being captain of the North West side in 2017 who beat North Coast for the first time in nearly two decades.
"Our rep game against Coffs was a good one," he said.
"It had been a long time since our region had beaten them and we had a good bunch of blokes right across the area, it was good fun and good to get a result.
"Seeing the the young kids come through the club and go on to play high level footy."
One of those "young kids" is current Nomads coach Clarrie Barker.
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Hunt said Barker "would have been 14 or 15 when he was running around with us, just a young kid, and he worked really hard to get where he was and play high quality footy in Sydney."
Barker spoke about the impact Hunt has had on his career.
"Everyone has been getting around the big boy this week at training which is great to see," he said.
"Tommy coached for a few years which really helped me progress in footy and develop handy habits.
"Tommy does a whole heap behind the scenes too, running sponsorships and apparel.
"Overall a great club man and an asset to the Nomads."
Barker is among the players Hunt also listed as being either the best he's played with or against in his time in the North West competition.
"Blokes I have played with - Weston Whitby early on," Hunt said.
"Most people probably know who was, he was an absolute gun.
"And Modra, Dave Richards, he is still running around. He would have to be one of the best players in the competition.
"Andrew George from Gunnedah and Hayden Chappell from Inverell. I also reckon those guys have been standouts for the last 10 years or so."
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