The former Brisbane Bronco will return from a six-month stint playing for Top 14 French rugby union side Biarritz Olympique sometime in May.
McKenna believes the 23-year-old will line up in his new code almost straight away.
"That's my plan. Andrew Weller (high performance manager) and Karmichael will need to agree with that," he told afl.com.au.
"We'd like to keep him up and running.
"We want to get him back and have a look at him, play him in a few positions, let him come off and say, 'I reckon I really can play here', whether it's midfield, forward or back.
"Then we can start devising a development program for him."
However, McKenna said the club would be mindful of managing the former Australian rugby league representative throughout the VFL season.
"He's come off the back of a Brisbane Broncos season, had four or five weeks off and went straight to France," he said.
"He's had a few little injuries and if I ask him to play half a season of AFL football, it isn't going to work. He'll need a holiday in 2011."
McKenna believes Hunt will bring an important level of professionalism to the club, which will be worth more than his actual on-field skills.
"The playing side of him is going to be a bonus for us. I'm sure it's going to happen because he's a driven fellow," he said.
"Weller, through the compromise of our budget, has only got one conditioning bloke but when Karmichael arrives he'll have two.
"Karmichael can get in there and actually show the boys what to do. He's worked hard on his body and that's going to be invaluable to us [in the] pre-season."
Hunt has been "doing bits and pieces" with an Australian Rules football since he was signed to Gold Coast in July last year but hasn't been told to make skills his priority.
"I'm cognisant of what he wants to achieve in life and he wants to have a fair crack at rugby union," McKenna said.
"I don't want him to come away from rugby union thinking, 'AFL pulled me away a bit, I want to have another crack'.
"I want him to do his rugby union and not worry about a Sherrin. I want him to expel the rugby union demon, get it out of his system so he's done it and then we can have him for the next 10 years playing Australian Rules."
Hunt's return date will be determined by the success of Biarritz in the Heineken Cup, with the side to play a semi-final against Munster on Sunday, May 2. The final will be held on Saturday, May 22, which is the weekend of the VFL's state representative match.
Gold Coast's fixture features two excellent opportunities for his debut at Southport with its round-six clash against Geelong scheduled for Saturday, May 15 and its round-seven match against Collingwood for Saturday, May 29.
