The defection of Brisbane Broncos star Karmichael Hunt to the fledgling Gold Coast-based AFL outfit dominated the newspapers today in a way which few sports stories have managed in recent years.

The Australian carried no less than eight stories on the Hunt signing, headed off by its back-page lead which screamed: ‘Hunt switch stuns a nation.'  Phew, as sports headlines go, that takes some beating. In Melbourne, The Age and Herald-Sun were every bit as excited about the coup which was portayed, inevitably, as a significant PR victory for the AFL over rugby league in the ‘war of the codes'.

Most papers pieced the recruiting coup together, detail by detail, from the moment former Swans player and AFL Queensland's talent manager, Mark Browning, first got the wheels in motion in February. Browning had read a newspaper report that Hunt was contemplating a career overseas playing rugby union; he alerted Gold Coast recruiting manager Scott Clayton and the chase was on. That was the start of a campaign that resulted in yesterday's astonishing announcement.

But, as a one-time journo who worked for far too long in a newspaper sports department, I ask myself the question: how was this story kept secret for six months? How did not one of the (at last count) 760 reporters with AFL accreditation, not to mention the hundreds covering rugby league - especially those based in Brisbane - get a whiff of the yarn?

Browning knew about it, as did Clayton and then AFL game development boss Dave Matthews and AFL national talent manager Kevin Sheehan were brought in on the secret. In May, two AFL development coaches, Nathan Buckley - a Fairfax columnist, no less - and Jason McCartney were asked to take Hunt for a kicking and handballing session in Parkville. Then, of course, AFL CEO Andrew Demetriou was briefed about developments - because nothing happens in the AFL without Andrew's imprimatur.

Demetriou was kind enough to invite Hunt and his girlfriend around to his "Toorak home", where he made the couple a cup of tea. I wonder how many of the 640-odd players on the 16 AFL club lists can boast receiving that sort of hospitality from the league boss? I'm thinking roughly zero.

Obviuously Hunt's manager David Riolo and Hunt's girlfriend Emma Harding, who is the sister of a Brisbane Lions player, were in on the secret from the start. Hunt himself was also a guest of the AFL in the league's Etihad Stadium corporate box on May 24, when the St Kilda played Brisbane, and that same invitation was later extended to Hunt's parents for the Melbourne state-of-origin game.

There were hundreds of ways in which this blockbuster story could have leaked out yet, astonishingly, the first anyone knew about it was yesterday morning.

As Hunt himself said yesterday: ‘We did pretty well at keeping it under wraps'. You're not wrong there, champ.

If he can keep his opponents half as quiet on the footy field, Hunt's success as an AFL player is assured.