Rex Hunt

Rex James Hunt (born 7 March 1949) is an Australian television and radio personality, and a former Australian rules football player. He is also a former Australian rules football commentator known for his habit of making up quirky nicknames for players. He has also been known around the world for fishing and wildlife programs on the Seven Network and overseas stations. He is a former police officer who reached the senior rank of Sergeant in Victoria Police at age 30. He also previously owned a restaurant, the D'lish Fish located in Port Melbourne.

Early life

Hunt was born in Mentone, Victoria, and attended Mordialloc High School. He joined the police force as a cadet after leaving school. In 1970 he was called up to national service.

Football career

Hunt was recruited from Parkdale by Richmond and made his debut in the then Victorian Football League in 1968. He was a key position player who was usually positioned at full-forward or centre half-forward. Later he played at centre half-back. He was part of Richmond's premiership sides in 1969 and 1973. In the middle of 1974, Hunt moved to the Geelong Football Club due to his work as a policeman. The big strong forward played at Geelong in 1974 and 1975, playing only 32 games for the club before moving back to the city and playing with St Kilda. He retired from VFL football at the end of 1978 but continued to play in the lower-level VFA in 1980 and 1981 with Sandringham.

Rex Hunt (governor)

Sir Rex Masterman Hunt, CMG (29 June 1926 – 11 November 2012) was a Royal Air Force pilot, British diplomat and colonial administrator. He was Governor, Commander-in-Chief and Vice Admiral of the Falkland Islands (and concurrent High Commissioner of the British Antarctic Territory) between 1980 and September 1985. Hunt became a household name during the Falklands War after the Argentine invasion of the islands, when he was briefly taken prisoner and temporarily removed from his position.

Military and diplomatic career

Hunt was born in Redcar in the North Riding of Yorkshire (Redcar is now part of the Redcar and Cleveland unitary authority). After attending Coatham School, in Redcar, and St Peter's College, Oxford where he read Law, Hunt joined the Royal Air Force as a cadet in 1941 and was enlisted as an airman in 1944 and commissioned as a pilot in 1945. He was promoted to flying officer (war substantive) in June 1946 with the permanent promotion to that rank in December the same year. In August 1946, he transferred to No 5 Squadron in India where he flew Spitfires, before transferring to Germany with No 26 Squadron in August 1947. He left active service in September 1948, received the rank of flight lieutenant in the Royal Air Force reserves in September 1950, and relinquished the commission in December 1953.