Brisbane halfback and Australian utility Ben Hunt has proved he is ready for the NRL big time after finishing second only to the game’s greatest, Johnathan Thurston, in the statistics columns.
Hunt had an excellent 2014 season in his first year as a full-time halfback, making his debut for Australia and narrowly missing out on the opportunity for Queensland.
Finishing fifth in the Daly M statistics after leading it for most of the year, many critics believed that Hunt was ripped off for the halfback of the year award this season.
A Fox Sports poll showed that 80 per cent of the 8000 voters believed that Hunt should have received the award over Daley Cherry-Evans. It seems that the statistics comparison and public opinion has no effect on the panel who select the team of the year, however.
The team is purely their opinion and it seems that if they like a player more then they pick them.
Ben Hunt finished the year as the halfback with the most tries, line breaks, tackle busts, run metres, kicking metres and kicks. He can only be compared to the natural halfback who took a five-eighth role for his club team this year, Johnathan Thurston.
Thurston took away two of Hunt’s winning categories while wearing the number six this season, also leading him in the field goals, line break assists, offloads and the competition in try assists.
While Thurston fails to lose his shine, Hunt has certainly made a huge claim for the Queensland and Australian number seven, leading both Cooper Cronk and Daly Cherry-Evans. A Fox Sports poll with more than 3000 responses puts Hunt as the third best halfback in the game.
The poll has Thurston leading outright, as expected, on 42.99 per cent, Shaun Johnson on 11.3 per cent, Hunt on 6.86 per cent, Cronk on 6.16 per cent and Cherry-Evans on 5.86 per cent. Interestingly, all four of Queensland’s halves options are rated in the top five in the world.
Ben Hunt will partner the excitement machine Anthony Milford in the halves at the Broncos this season, making a combination that is sure to be unpredictable and thrilling to watch. Look for big things from Hunt this year because he proved in his Test games that he won’t be ripped off as the best halfback again.
William Dalton Davis
Roar Rookie
Word is someone's just put together a million+ dollar per year deal for Folau. I doubt it was Brisbane, but roosters should have the space cleared with TPAs, or Parra. Parra could probably pay him 1 mil out of their own cap plus TPAs.
Wayne
Guest
To be honest i believe Ben Hunt was held back just a tad too long, it may prove to be to his benefit yet, but he is much more natural than DCE, his 5th tackle decisions in 2014 were raw but he had just played 2 years at #14/hooker, and he had no real help at 5/8, with some talented assistance in the halves in 2015 and a mentor of Wayne Bennett's pedigree i think we will see the emergence of Thurston's replacement as the worlds premier halfback.
Muzz
Guest
The young guns name is Latrell Mitchell. He's a complete fullback, Jay. Strong ballrunner,lightning fast off the mark and maintains his speed.can ball-play/pass, good under the high ball,can step off both feet, fend with either arm,very confident,good communicator/organiser.Very composed and can pick the right moment/read the play to inject himself. Just has keep working hard and stay as injury free as possible. http://www.nrl.com/schoolboys-run-riot-in-tour-opener/tabid/10874/newsid/83132/default.aspx?cid=NRL_HP_Latest?cid=NRL-HP-Featured
Jay C
Roar Guru
Tommy Lolo looks like the best of that bunch Muzz. Gee they will be doing well though. Some of their guys would be due a contract upgrade. I would think they would have to shed a bit of weight to afford a top line player like that. Ferguson can't have been cheap. If there is any fairness at all in the world then the NRL wouldn't have registered him for less than Canberra was paying him. Uncle Phil won't be paying for Jennings anymore either. RTS should be a pretty handy fullback. Who is that kid for people who don't have access to youtube?
Muzz
Guest
This kid will be the worlds best fullback one day imo. He's a freak! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xfqiUQDFYQ
Muzz
Guest
Coach Robbo just returned from France where he spent some time with the Wallabies. Izzy could be Mini's replacement but we would lose a number of players that are coming off contract at the end of 2015. Roosters hit list in no particular order(from what i can gather).They would hope to nab 1 of these boys. Hayne Taumololo Merrin Folau
William Dalton Davis
Roar Rookie
Might just be looking to replace hodgo. I think he'll retire after this contract ends. Brisbane are pretty light in the centres apart from Copley so folau would be a good buy (assuming they could afford him.) though I think Folau would want to stay in Sydney if he came back to league. Maybe parra or somewhere else he'd get the fullback spot.
Muzz
Guest
Bronco's looking at stockpiling fullbacks again.This must be some kind of disorder.
Maverick
Guest
Agreed.. As a Broncos fan I'm stoked but I cant help but agree about his fifth tackle options... There were sometimes when he'd look a bit off.. He's got a helluva lot of work to do to reach the heights of Cronk and Thurston
William Dalton Davis
Roar Rookie
Ah yes. Forgot about Glenn. Is it possible this is how he has survived so long?
Jay C
Roar Guru
I agree Nick, but unfortunately as we said he has been severely stunted by incompetence. If it take him 3 years to be better than DCE was this year that is not really that good to be honest. DCE had a stinker. He will need to get his organisation down pat and his last play options under control. A little too often he goes for the big play instead of the required play. I would think he would be around the top of halfbacks tackled on the fifth this year? Potential plus and I wouldn't be throwing the chequebook at DCE with the two halves sitting in Brissy. Wayne's got it under control now so don't worry.
Jay C
Roar Guru
Reed, Maranta, Glenn. Boyd to centre, Izzy to Full back. Maybe. Vidot and Copley are your wingers, Greg Eden as backup. He might even give Hodges a little tap. He has got to be close. Hodges for Izzy maybe. I thought he was into Parra though. They will have a bit of cash burning a hole. I don't think Izzy is a war chest. He is quality enough, and star power enough, but I think he wants to come home. I don't know if it will be money that sways him. He must be pretty cashed up after that AFL debacle.
William Dalton Davis
Roar Rookie
But DCE is a cool kid. Anybody who's referred to by their initials is the best.
William Dalton Davis
Roar Rookie
He did drop a hint that Bennett was someone he'd like to play for... Might be a bit much for Brisbane though, however I wouldn't be surprised if next year Reed, Kahu, and Maranta all got a tap on their shoulder. Watch who the broncos let go. That'll tell you what position Bennetts looking to fill.
Muzz
Guest
Hairy hooker? Strong mail that Izzy is returning to the NRL next season. Is it time for the war chest? Who's going to nab him? If it's the Bronco's then that will do me!
Jay C
Roar Guru
nope
Jay C
Roar Guru
was it hooker?
Nick
Guest
Everyone is sorely under-estimating Ben Hunt. Chery-Evans is a year older than Hunt and has also been playing as permanent Halfback for 4 seasons now. This was Ben Hunts first. In Schoolboys footy all experts and coaches said Hunt would blow DCE off the park when they matched up. It took DCE about 2 years to emerge as a dominant Halfback. For Hunt its been happening since Round 1 this year. In three years compare Hunts stats to DCE's 2014 stats, he'll be lightyears infront. Both beat eachother in certain concepts of the game with three years experience between them. You give Hunt the leading roles over DCE and he will quickly emerge as a much stronger player. Theres more potential in Hunt as a Halfback, especially now under Bennett.
mushi
Guest
hooker?
P.Marlowe
Guest
Happy he had a good season - he has been the next big thing at Brisbane for a few years so I'm glad he finally got a chance to show what he could do. As others have alluded to above, consistency is going to be the big thing for Ben. While he had a generally good season, he had some absolute clunkers in the 2-3 weeks following the announcement of Griffin's departure.