Kelly was dumped this week from his position as Taieri head coach after just four rounds of the season.
Hunter, the Otago B co-coach, said he only took the job on because he was asked to by Taieri officials, and because he had an association with the club.
He had played through the grades for Taieri, and his father, John Hunter, was a life member.
He did not want to comment on what had led to the sacking of Kelly but said it was unfortunate.
He had taken two trainings this week and said he could not fault the players' attitude.
Hunter had no issue with having to coach players he had not selected, and said the selection process had been completed well.
Graeme Anderson, assistant coach to Kelly, would continue in the role.
Hunter said he had big expectations for his side and wanted Taieri to be a worthy premier team, which it had the potential be.
Kelly's dumping was the second coaching change in premier club rugby this season following the resignation of Harbour coach Paddy Stewart just before the season started, after an incident in a pre-season match.
Other premier coaches did not want to comment on Kelly's dumping yesterday, but said coaching a club was almost like having a part-time job, and expectations were high.
Pirates coach Roy Hawker wondered what the expectations were at Taieri, considering the team was competitive and was drawing good crowds.
Coaches were either dumped because they did not get on with the players or they had technical deficiencies.
He said Kelly was a "likeable guy" and was passionate about the game.
Club coaches had little time to spend with players, he said, and they just wanted to make sure the players enjoyed it, and reached their potential.
He was disappointed in the attitude of some of the professional players coming back to club rugby, many of whom thought they were bigger than the game.
Alhambra-Union premier coach Mike Moeahu said coaching a premier side was not easy and was time-consuming.
"There is a lot of planning to do, a lot of technical knowledge you have to keep up with, and thinking about how you want to play the game," he said.
Moeahu is into his fourth year with Alhambra-Union and has won two banners. He said expectations were high, from both clubs and players.
Zingari-Richmond coach John Keenan said people would be surprised at the time it took to run a premier team - at least 20 hours a week. Planning for this season started in October last year with efforts to retain players made overseas and in New Zealand.
Clubs which had strong colts teams would invariably have strong premier sides, so it was important to have strong player retention throughout the club, he said.
Keenan felt if players had an issue with a coach they should go to the club committee, which would then approach the coach and discuss the issue.
The committee would give the coach whatever help was needed, try and identify reasons for player discontent and take action to improve the situation.
Otago Rugby Football Union resource coach Phil Young said coaching a premier side was a big job and always had been.
Coaching and player retention were equally important, he said.
The former Taieri player said he had not been involved in getting rid of Kelly.
He was helping out at Taieri but that was part of his job.
He said it was not a nice thing to have happened, as Kelly had obviously been doing something he loved.
