Ben Hunt needs to step up for the Dragons

In a recent series of articles in which five Roar NRL pundits highlighted the top 50 players in the game, one player barely rated a mention at all – Ben Hunt.

Here’s a guy who is on serious money with St George Illawarra, signed a long-term deal with the club, played in all State Of Origin games last year, yet is not considered good enough to be included in the best 50 players in the NRL?

Rightly so.

Hunt joined the Dragons in 2018 and his first game – against his old team, the Broncos – suggested his rumoured million-dollar price tag was well and truly justified. He played brilliantly and was instrumental in his team winning 34-12.

Fast forward two seasons and Hunt’s form, which started off so well, has tapered to the point where he was just another first-grade halfback for much of last season.

There have been a number of reasons for this, including him being injured at key times, a side that has famously switched off in the second half of the season, off-field distractions, etc.

But possibly the biggest issue has been an unsettled spine.

Paul McGregor knew Gareth Widdop was leaving the club at the end of 2019, so recruited Corey Norman, which many of the Red V faithful thought was a bad move because it wasn’t clear who would play where.

‘Mary’ also seemed to have the same thoughts, because guys were tried in all sorts of different positions when all were available.

At times, it wasn’t clear who was leading the team around the field, thanks to the coach having three playmakers on the park, as well as Cameron McInnes at hooker.

Cameron McInnes (AAP Image/Joel Carrett)

That might have been fine if there was a coherent plan that everyone stuck to, but either there was no plan, the plan didn’t work or there were too many chefs, all getting in each other’s way.

The result? The attack was clunky and disjointed.

Hunt is now 29 years old and has a record many would envy. More than 230 first grade games for the Broncos and Dragons, seven State of Origins for Queensland and seven Tests for Australia suggest he is an outstanding player.

He truly is and this season he needs to prove it.

He must take control of the team, but still work with Norman and use both sets of skills to manage the attack. Hunt doesn’t have to compete with Widdop anymore and his role as organiser is even more critical, given McInnes’ injury will not see him back before Round 8.

The other thing Hunt needs to do is manage himself. He still seems to be carrying some baggage from on-field incidents that have seriously affected his confidence – remember that dropped kickoff in the 2016 grand final or his decision to run the ball on the sixth tackle in the final against the Rabbitohs in 2018?

He can’t drop his head if a play doesn’t work out, but simply has to get on with it.

Hunt is a class act – his best is as good as there is in the game at present and this is what he and the Dragons need. This squad is way too good to not be considered a finals contender, but this largely depends on what Hunt can do as leader of the attack.

If he plays to his true ability all season, St George Illawarra have the firepower to make the eight (also assuming Shane Flanagan has cured their defensive woes and injuries don’t cruel the squad).

As we saw in 2018, if they do get that far, Ben Hunt is the sort of player who can really turn it on.