After switching from league, Karmichael Hunt played four seasons with the Gold Coast Suns in the AFL.

Jarryd Hayne's decision to give up on his NFL dream to play sevens rugby for Fiji at the Rio Olympics is a risky move with the Games less than three months away.

History tells us that not every code-switch works out, here are five that didn't go so well:

1. Karmichael Hunt (league to Aussie rules)

GETTY IMAGES Israel Folau played two seasons of Aussie Rules in between his league and rugby careers.

After a six-year rugby league career with the Brisbane Broncos in the NRL that included a premiership in 2006, the Australian fullback announced in July 2009 that he had signed to play for the Gold Coast Suns expansion team in the AFL. Following a detour to play rugby in France, he joined the Suns in the Victorian Football League then went on to play for them for four seasons in the AFL. He impressed in their first two campaigns, but was then plagued by injury in 2013 and 2014, before announcing his departure to rugby and the Queensland Reds.

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* Samoa stuns Fiji to win Paris Sevens

* Argentina knocks NZ out in Paris quarters

FAIRFAX AUS Benji Marshall played just 212 minutes of Super Rugby before returning to the NRL.

2. Israel Folau (league to Aussie rules)

An even bigger league star than Hunt, Folau followed him into the AFL, signing for the next expansion team, the Greater Western Sydney Giants, when his contract with the Broncos expired at the end of the 2010 season. The Giants joined the AFL in 2012, which would turn out to be Folau's only season playing the game at the highest level, before he too made the move to rugby, where he's been key to Australia's hopes ever since.

In his one season of AFL, he played just 13 games, and was also largely deemed a failure.

ANDREW COULDRIDGE/REUTERS Sam Burgess switched from league to rugby ahead of the 2015 world cup, but couldn't figure out if he was a flanker or a centre.

3. Benji Marshall (league to rugby)

The Kiwis and Wests Tigers playmaker made headlines when he signed with the ailing Blues ahead of the 2014 season, as coach John Kirwan sought a remedy to his Super Rugby side's woeful form. Marshall didn't turn out to be the answer, however, forgoing the opportunity to get up to speed in the national provincial championship, then struggling to find a position that suited him.

He made six appearances, scoring one try and kicking two conversions, before departing in late April and returning to the NRL with the St George Illawarra Dragons.

GETTY IMAGES A reincarnation as a baseball player didn't quite work out for NBA legend Michael Jordan.

4. Sam Burgess (league to rugby)

Looking to be England's answer to Sonny Bill Williams, Burgess left the South Sydney Rabbitohs after leading them to their first title in 43 years in 2014 and playing the final with a broken cheekbone.

Playing for Bath in the English premiership, he never quite found his place, moving from flanker to centre, but made England's Rugby World Cup squad anyway, offering little as they crashed out in the pool stages, then announcing his return to league before the dust had settled.

5. Michael Jordan (basketball to baseball)

After winning his third NBA title with the Chicago Bulls in 1994, Jordan shocked the world when he retired and joined the Chicago White Sox to play in the minor leagues, hoping to fulfil his late father's dream for him of playing Major League Baseball.

After largely-unproductive spells with the Birmingham Barons and the Scottsdale Scorpions, he decided to return to the game where he made his name, announcing his decision with a two-word press release: "I'm back."

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