When it comes to great GC SUNS goals against the Geelong Cats, there aren’t many better than Gary Ablett’s near-impossible effort in round 10 last season.

But almost two years to the day prior to that miraculous effort, with the Gold Coast SUNS playing their first ever match at Metricon Stadium, Karmichael Hunt booted a major that rivals Ablett’s amazing goal in terms of excitement and occasion.

Late in the second quarter against the Cats, Michael Rischitelli had the ball on the centre wing. With not many options, the experienced midfielder looked inside the corridor and spotted an option dashing through the centre square. That option was Karmichael Hunt.

A precision pass from Rischitelli hit Hunt on the chest and the man with the number seven on his back took a few steps before unloading with a long bomb on the edge of the centre square.

The noise from the crowd grew increasingly louder as the Sherrin never looked like missing the target, going through the goals halfway up the sticks to mark K’s maiden goal at AFL level.

“I guess where I caught the ball, and I was on the run, I think I was only 10 or 15 out from the 50 metre line. So I just thought hey, I may as well have a shot,” Hunt told SUNS TV after the goal in 2011.

“It felt pretty good in terms of kicking because I’ve been doing a lot of practice during the week and nailed a few in training so I just said ‘Why not, may as well have a crack’ and thankfully it come through.”

Before the goal umpire even had a chance to signal the six-pointer, Hunt was set upon by his teammates. Danny Stanley was the first to embrace the Gold Coast midfielder before every single member of the SUNS team got around the high-profile code hopper to congratulate him on his first AFL goal.

“I turned around and I saw Bull (Danny Stanley), I saw the other boys just getting pumped up, so it was quite exciting to see them happy for me and probably gave me the energy to celebrate as well, so it was great,” Hunt said.

“I can’t remember too many tries where I got the buzz the same as that goal.”