![The evergreen Chris Hunt has no plans to hang up the boots. File picture by Mark Bode The evergreen Chris Hunt has no plans to hang up the boots. File picture by Mark Bode](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/KUhQizDbwW8WqAyPP4x5yp/3560eddd-9f05-42cd-833d-cdad4f727c2b.jpg/r0_0_4032_3024_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
At age 42, Chris Hunt is still hunting.
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One Group 4's true survivors - a genial character who regards rugby league as his "life" - plans to play on in 2024, after a neck injury this year resulted in a season-derailing blood clot in his right arm.
And when he takes the field, he said he would "strive to be better" than ever.
The father for four remains on the prowl, relentlessly searching for an improved version of the footballer within.
"Being at the age that I am, I feel like I can improve on what I did last year - whether it's fitness, whether it's strength," Hunt said.
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"I don't know where that takes me. I don't know if it's five years, or it's 10 years [before I retire]."
This year's injury, which prevented Hunt from being able to turn his neck for a couple of weeks, occurred when he was playing for the Blues against the Bulldogs in Gunnedah in May.
The blood clot was not life threatening, but the medical advice was for Hunt to stop playing while he was on blood thinners. He still has the clot, but it has dissolved to the point where he no longer needs to take a thinner.
He initially did not know he had a clot.
"But one day I walked out to my shed, and I went to open up my garage and I reached up and I got a big shooting pain in my arm," he said.
"And that's when I realised that something was wrong."
Still, Hunt did not immediately seek medical attention. But when the issue persisted, an ultrasound at Tamworth hospital identified the clot.
I owe it to them to play again.
With the veteran five-eighth sidelined, Narrabri had one win for the season and finished in last place.
"I owe it to them to play again," he said of Narrabri.
Hunt, who lives in Tamworth, is waiting to hear from the Blues in terms of their 2024 set-up. "The incoming coach may not want me there," he said.
For now, the premiership winner at West Lions and North Tamworth is engrossed in his work as a health practitioner at the Aboriginal Health and Medical Research Council.
"I love helping and inspiring our people," he said. "It's the best thing about it [the job]."
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