Ben Hunt has pledged his future to St George Illawarra, declaring that his long-running contract saga with the club will be ended before a ball is kicked in 2023.
Speaking after the Dragons’ final game, a 22-12 victory in which he secured another 3 Dally M points, he gave his most comprehensive statement yet that he is to stay in Sydney and reject the overtures of the Dolphins, with whom he has been heavily linked.
“The season is over now, so we’ll get it sorted,” said Hunt. “It will be sorted before next season.”
The halfback would be free to speak to other clubs after November 1, when it was expected that Wayne Bennett and the Dolphins would come in with an offer for the 32-year-old Queenslander to return home to finish his career.
“It’s definitely a possibility. I informed the club we’d wait until the season was over and then get it sorted.”
Dragons coach Anthony Griffin reiterated the desire of the club to keep their star man on board.
“He’s our captain and halfback and we’ll do everything we can,” he told the media conference. “I know he wants to stay, and we’ll do whatever we’ve got to do to get that done now.
“Over 25 rounds the points tell the picture, there’s no way to hide in the NRL, and he’s been outstanding individually and outstanding as a leader for our club.
“It’s unfortunate we won’t play in the play-offs, but having him as our captain and leader, it gives us a real purpose and an arrowhead there we can all build around.”
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Hunt was topping the Dally M leaderboard with 19 votes when it went dark after Round 16. His nearest rivals were Isaah Yeo, who has missed fixtures due to squad rotation on 17, Nicho Hynes on 16 and Mitchell Moses and Ryan Papenhuyzen on 15 – though the latter two have missed significant game time with injuries.
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