Ben Hunt should be praised, not criticised

Hey Ben you and Gareth best 2 buys in the last 10 years run more and be confident in what you do don't take any notice of the dumb media the thing is Souths could only beat you guy's by a point and you had Gareth, Euan, Tariq, Paul and 2 or 3 other's sitting on the sideline great effort guy's will alway's follow you have been since i was 4yo i am now 65yo GO DRAGONS.

Marcus, Nice article presenting a good defence of a 'too much maligned' player. I'm actually surprise Leeson is getting off lightly. I saw that strip coming two plays earlier in my armchair, shoulda had that ball tucked close to his chest, Dragons win and we aren't having this dialogue.

Agree 100%. Could maybe say that Hunt could have passed out the back to Dufty, but I thought Mann's line was a touch too close and Dufty was also (given the obstruction rule). If anything I think there was a lack of execution outside Hunt (Mann and Dufty) rather than with Hunt himself. Yes it is a hail Mary play, but like you said, it was definitely a clear opportunity, and that is what you want your playmakers to do. Another point that I have not seen elsewhere, the dummy half passes to a De Belin I think on the 5th tackle which either was a mistake, or they called the play as both playmakers were standing out wider. Problem was not what Hunt did, it was the execution, largely from the players outside him. I am really tired of the constant criticism of Ben Hunt. Yes he is on big money, but so are a few others whose teams are not still playing. I would agree that his kicking game and 'game management' are not his strongest areas, but when he runs to the line with support he is deadly. It is up to the coach and the rest of the team to allow him to express those strengths regularly and to pick up the slack in the other areas. For the Dragons, The the hooker doesn't kick (and struggles to direct the team if you look at the difference between his service and that from Damien Cook leading up to field goal attempts), with Widdup out, they pick a running 5/8th in Mann and the fullback also is a running type player. But for some reason Hunt cops the brunt of the blame. It is garbage. It would be like criticising Adam Reynolds or Chad Townsend for not running the ball enough, the other parts of their games are stronger and they have help from their team. Take Hunt and Munster in Origin (particularly without Cameron Smith), both running type players and that saw the Qld team lack direction. Put Cherry-Evens in there and they looked very much different. It is never one player's fault, and this poor guy just cops it. Absolute rubbish. Why wasn't Cleary criticised for missing the field goal, while the set up play from Penrith was incredibly disorganised leading into it. Have a look at what Cook and Cody Walker in particular did leading up to some of the Reynolds field goals. Cook's pass is an absolute thing of beauty, and a number of times Walker just took the ball and jinked his way around near the middle of the field. Like I said, talk about the team which is more than one person. Keep you chin up Benny, don't let the bullsh!t get you down.

One question may help determine what was "right" or "wrong" If given the exact same situation again sudden death semi final with 1 minute on the clock scores locked and the same opportunity presents itself- would you kick to the corners? Or go for the play given it may come off and win the game? (it seems to me in a way both strategies were 50/50, dragons may have inevitably died a slower death in overtime in any case or they may have won- who knows) still its a good question regarding backing your players vision or playing percentages

Hi Marcus...I’m one that doesn’t really agree but it was a well written piece with a good perspective. It certainly made me have another look at the incident and review my stance. While I still think Hunt should have aborted the play and kicked long once his outside men weren’t positioned I’m certainly not as hard on him as I was at the time.

Maloney did but not Cleary, who was as much to blame for their loss. He's the NSW half back and should have done way better, but that's another matter. I would say we got the best part of 900 or a million bucks worth of value, given the way he came back to really play in the last 2 finals games. He's got some demons to conquer and he will, then look out!!!

Cause Gould was the fool that said Reynolds kicked a field goal too early. Gould was wrong as usual.

Indeed Mann is to blame. But, that didn't go with the media's Hunt bashing.

Yeah, easy from the armchair eh. He's been under immense pressure since accepting the big coin, selected for Qld... then team started to wobble. On the same token he's not a rookie, he's played multiple finals. Compare that to Cronk, he learned to play #7 within the Storm system. I feel for the bloke but fans have every right to a certain level of expectation. There is a good QCup GF this weekend as well. Last Friday/Sat/Sunday of footy for the year.

Players get a reputation for being able to close a game out and it's usually pretty fair. These players deserve the top dollar. The ability of players to close games out does then develop some mythology as well to go with the reality. I saw a video on you tube which showed the last 13 minutes of the Storm x Sharks GF from 2016. I paid close attention to players like Cronk and Maloney as well as Smith to see how they performed with such a big game on the line. Put it this way if it was Hunt in Cronks or Maloneys shoes he would have copped a pretty decent bagging. My point being that these players get it wrong at times also which seems go without comment largely. 'I that was Cronk he would have forced a repeat set instead of kicking it straight to Bird or later on passing to the winger to grubber which led to 7 tackles to the Sharks' It was Cronk in fact. Not huge errors in any way but they would be if it was Hunt it seems.

I think you're being pretty tough on Mann. He had little time to do a quick catch and pass and as you say its not like he passes in the best of circumstances. Surely then Hunt takes some of the blame for passing to a player that isn't likely to do a catch and pass. I think The Barry sums it up best below...the play was there because they had the overlap and Hunt knew it. The problem was the best person to receive the pass Field had run his line such that it was not possible for Hunt to pass to him as he was obstructed by Mann. The longer pass out to Lafai was probably the next best option but Hunt went with Mann hoping he would do a catch/pass to Field to take advantage of the overlap. I do agree though that the Hunt bashing over this incident is over the top as he did what possibly could have been the match winner play.

It’s a tough game Rugby League and I shouldn’t criticise Hunt too much. He is a good player . It’s just The Dragons have paid way too much for him . So be it. Only the great ones have that real feel for the game and really we shouldn’t be surprised when a Ben Hunt gets it wrong. Greatness is a rare gift from above. Enjoy your footy mate.

I can't agree that it was a skinny blind. If you look at the replay again, Mann takes the ball in the middle of 10 and 20 metre infield markers, so there is 15 metres between him and the sideline. On top of that, he has Dufty looping around behind him and two unmarked players outside that. The problem is that Mann never once looked outside (not even a glance). And you can see as he gets tackled, Hunt throw his head back as if to say, "Why are you running inside?" There was plenty of space to mount an attack. 100% of the blame must be on Mann. If he catches and passes, who knows what happens...

You’re the only one quoting Gould...

Fair take Paul even though I disagree. Maloney was absolutely caned in the mainstream media and social media and I reckon copped it as badly as Hunt for much the same reason. Hunt probably took some heat off Maloney. Plus he has the history. Dragon fans can judge the value they’ve got from Hunts signing this season but I wouldn’t rate it at 1.2M worth.

It all comes down to how we see it but I thought Hunt had the ball in his hand long enough to say “this isn’t going to work” I need to kick. It was worth having a look but he should have aborted when the players outside him weren’t in position. I thought Mann had less time than Hunt and wasn’t expecting the ball. Of course very easy to say all that from a lounge chair...different proposition out there.

I'm happy with him too. I'm more worried he is expected to do it all, when Widdop is out, because Mann is no 5/8 back up or otherwise.

True. Then,again Gould bagged Reynolds for taking a field goal too early.Why would anyone take seriously a fool named Fool Gould, that would sack a head coach a month from the semi's for a team certain to play in them? Gould was a great coach ,but that's it. Terrible caller, and clueless club operator.