Malceski returned to play in 86 days, but Hunt is resigned to missing all of 2009.
Having flirted with the idea of undergoing a synthetic graft, the 27-year-old will have reconstructive surgery on Monday week, 16 days after rupturing the anterior cruciate ligament in his knee in the opening term of Geelong's NAB Cup grand final win over Collingwood.
With the final decision left to Hunt, he said that after discussions with surgeons, club doctors and coaches, he chose to take the path that will see him miss the entire season.
"If I had the opinion of wanting to get the synthetic one and all the doctors and people with the knowledge said to go with the other one, then it would be pretty silly for me to go with the synthetic," he said on Thursday.
Hunt spoke on the phone with Malceski, who had a synthetic graft operation in February 2008 and was back playing three months later, but the conversation was not enough to sway the Cat.
"He was still adamant that it was great for him, and all well and good for him, but I think it's horses for courses and the strike rate for the traditional one is a bit better and proven," he said.
"Missing a year means that it might freshen me up and add one or two (years) on the end of my career."
After surgery the rugged Cat will head overseas with the blessing of coach Mark Thompson, who on Wednesday jokingly described Hunt as the AFL's "most expensive drinks boy" after Hunt drove the drink cart at training.
While bitterly disappointed to miss Geelong's 2009 premiership push, Hunt said he was making a point of trying to hide it from teammates on the eve of the season.
"It's taken a couple of days but it's sunk in and I'll move on and worry about the surgery and rehab now," he said.
"At the end of the day this is still a footy club and it's still got to run.
"Me moping around here won't help anyone.
"You have your moments, and my girlfriend's been on the end of one or two of them, but at the same time I've just tried to stay as positive as I can."
Hunt said he drew inspiration from the attitude and demeanour of injured teammate Matthew Egan, who has not played since breaking a bone in his foot in round 22, 2007.
Hunt expects to spend plenty of time with Egan in the pool this year, noting that David Wojcinski and David Johnson were more than qualified to fill the void in defence.
