Photo: © 2010 AAP/RENEE MCKAY

Not content with just planting its flag in the Gold Coast and western Sydney, the cashed-up AFL has also pulled off two cunning raids on the upper tiers of the NRL's playing lists.

Yesterday, Karmichael Hunt began his Aussie rules career in earnest, training with the Gold Coast for the first time ahead of its entry into the AFL next year.

Now the AFL's other expansion team, Greater Western Sydney, has pinched Folau, another of the NRL's most exciting youngsters.

The 21-year-old played in the Melbourne Storm's premiership-stripped 2007 season and joined Hunt at the Brisbane Broncos - where Hunt won a premiership in 2006 - last season.  

Both have been major players in Queensland's current record-making State of Origin run and were frequently seen in the national jumper.

That makes them a marketing dream for the AFL as it tries to convince rugby league's true believers to also swap their allegiances.

And they'll be paid accordingly - with contracts worth $1 million or more per year, they are amongst the highest-paid players in the history of the game.

"It is sad to see Israel make this move but we understand the unprecedented inducement that was offered," Broncos chief executive Bruno Cullen said after losing his second player to the AFL.

But as decorated as Folau and Hunt have been in the NRL, their code switch has been met with some scepticism in the AFL ranks.

Brisbane Lions coach, Michael Voss, yesterday questioned whether Hunt's lucrative contract was in the game's best interests.

"The fact we're adjudicating the project on how many articles he gets in the paper as opposed to how many games he plays in the AFL, then I don't get that.''

After years of looking on in disbelief as players switched back-and-forth between rugby league and union, the AFL could now be considered the most predatory player poacher in the code switch wars.