Royce Hunt hopes the imminent arrival of the NRL's Western Bears will signal an end to the "wasting of talent" he witnessed as a young rugby league player in Western Australia.
Representatives from the joint venture between a WA consortium and the North Sydney Bears are lodging paperwork on Wednesday in the next step to the Western Bears becoming the NRL's 18th team from 2027.
Much has been made of the Bears' return to first-grade rugby league more than two decades on from the ill-fated Northern Eagles merger that preceded the foundation club's untimely exit.
But Cronulla prop Hunt is just as excited about what their inclusion will mean for his home state.
Hunt is one of few current players to have made their way to the NRL from Western Australia and is by far the most established, ahead of Brisbane's Josh Rogers and Manly-turned-NSW Cup hooker Kurt de Luis.
Hunt is the first to admit his path to the NRL was unorthodox.
Born in Sydney, Hunt moved to Kalgoorlie as a small child when his father Rob found work in the West Australian country town's mining industry.
It was with his father's encouragement that Hunt persisted with the game, the pair driving the 1000km-plus round trip to Perth a few times a year so Royce could try out for junior rep teams.
And if not for his father's connection to the late recruitment guru Peter Mulholland, who had coached him during his own playing days, Hunt would likely never have been scouted by Canterbury as a teen.
"It wasn't the easiest path but we got here in the end," Hunt said.
Western Australia has the fourth-highest participation in rugby league of any state, behind NSW, Queensland and Victoria, though it still only accounts for about 5 per cent of participants nationwide.
In the financial year ending June 2023, about 8000 players were registered to play rugby league in Western Australia, smaller than the figure playing rugby union (about 13,000).
That would come as no surprise to Hunt, who remembers seeing mates give up on rugby league, aware that they had a better chance of making it as professionals if they could be scouted by Super Rugby's Western Force.
"There was just no pathway for league, so you'd see a lot of talent jumping over to union," Hunt said.
"I've been saying it for years, there's lots of talent over there (in Western Australia), it's a big talent pool.
"I'm glad that there's a pathway there now for them so they're not just wasting talent over there.
"The kids coming through there can finally get their shot at fame and get their turn to shine."
HBF Park, the Bears' proposed home ground that is expected to receive a significant upgrade, welcomed a sold-out crowd to this month's clash between the Dolphins and Sydney Roosters, and Hunt has predicted support would only grow.
Hunt recalls the WA locals warming to the West Coast Pirates when the team competed in the SG Ball competition between 2012 and 2020.
"They were treated like NRL players," he said.
"They were the only league team that travelled interstate and played against all the other top-notch clubs. I definitely think there'll be a big following over there."
