The Brisbane Broncos are now odds-on to sign Ben Hunt for the remainder of the 2023 season, following the bombshell recent news the St George Illawarra captain wants out of the struggling club.
According to The Daily Telegraph, the Broncos, where Hunt played 187 games between 2009 and 2017 including an infamous turn in the 2015 NRL grand final, will have the 33-year-old on their books as soon as Monday, with the Dragons set to release the wantaway halfback.
The report claims the Broncos are yet to make official contact with Hunt’s management, but with the NRL having warned clubs against breaching the league’s strict anti-tampering rules, will come to terms with the Dragons in coming days to finalise an immediate transfer.
However, the Tele also claim Hunt’s new Broncos contract will only be for four months due to salary cap concerns, and at the end of the season he will sign a two-year deal with the Gold Coast Titans.
Broncos coach Kevin Walters said on Triple M during the week that they would love to have Hunt back at the club, if he became available.
Ben Hunt last played for the Brisbane Broncos in 2017. (Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)
“If he is officially on the open market it would be something we’d certainly look at,” Walters said.
“I know some clubs have pulled the trigger early. The Dragons, to my knowledge, are not interested in releasing Ben.
“He has obviously been a really good player here in the past and I’m sure most clubs would love to have Ben’s calibre of player and personality on their books.
“At this stage, we’ll sit back and see what happens with the process at the Dragons and be respectful of that contract without committing too much.
“I’m sure all the Queensland clubs, maybe with the exception of the Cowboys, would be interested in Ben’s services. You could throw Redcliffe in there as well.”
Hunt is reluctant to play hooker at club level despite excelling in the position for Queensland and the Kangaroos.
Adam Reynolds has the No.7 jersey nailed down at Brisbane but Hunt could be an experienced halves partner for him ahead of young gun Ezra Mam or a top-quality starting hooker if Walters shifts his son Billy to the bench utility role.
“We can’t talk to Ben about his current contract nor should we, nor will we,” CEO Steve Mitchell said on Thursday when he fronted the media to explain Justin Holbrook’s abrupt sacking and Des Hasler coming to the club next year.
“He hasn’t had a call from the club … He hasn’t called anyone at my club.”
Ben Hunt. (Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)
Manly consider RTS move as Turbo replacement
Tom Trbojevic’s Origin injury could open the door for the Sea Eagles to swoop on Roger Tuivasa-Sheck before he rejoins the Warriors next year.
Because Trbojevic suffered his season-ending pectoral tear on representative duty, Manly are allowed to claim salary cap dispensation to replace him on their roster for the rest of the year with a like for like replacement and RTS fits that bill.
Tuivasa-Sheck is on the outer in New Zealand rugby circles in the final year of his contract and is considered a rank outsider to make the All Blacks squad for the World Cup.
He has inked a deal to return to the Warriors next season but if New Zealand Rugby release him early, Manly could bring him back to the NRL this year before he again suits up in Auckland for the club where he won the Dally M Medal in 2018.
Manly coach Anthony Seibold said on Friday that RTS was the kind of player that they would be keen to bring in for Trbojevic under the likely scenario that he has played his last game for 2023.
Roger Tuivasa-Sheck is tackled by Japan’s defence while representing the All Blacks. (Photo by Koki Nagahama/Getty Images)
“Certainly there’s a number of names that we could look at and I’m sure he would be one of them,” he said. “I don’t want to be presumptuous. We will have a look at what we can do.”
Manly are rallying around Trbojevic after scans confirmed the fullback had torn his right pectoral muscle during Wednesday night’s State of Origin II.
If he requires surgery, the Sea Eagles fullback faces a minimum 12 weeks of recovery once the muscle is reattached.
Seibold said Trbojevic has the team’s backing as he faces another tough injury period. “I really feel for him,” Seibold said. “I wasn’t shattered for myself, or the club. I was shattered for him.”
“It’s unfair that he has to go through what he’s going through but I just know that he’ll come out the other side and we’re here to support him.”
Trbojevic’s torn muscle is just the latest in his long history of injuries, ranging from chronic hamstring issues, a 2019 tear in his left pectoral and recurring shoulder problems.
Since his debut in 2015, Trbojevic has spent more than 80 weeks in the casualty ward, attracting intense scrutiny.
Seibold hopes the public treat the 26-year-old with compassion. “Tommy needs a bit of support because there’s constant speculation about his health with regards to his injuries and I don’t think that’s necessarily good for anybody,” he said.
“He’s the highest character, great integrity and work ethic. I’m not over-exaggerating – he prepares like an Olympic athlete.”
Tom Trbojevic. (Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)
Trbojevic’s injury has cast a shadow over the remainder of the Sea Eagles’ season.
Sitting 12th on the ladder, Manly’s track record without their star man at the back has been fraught and they face a tough task against the third-placed Storm in Melbourne on Saturday night.
In the lead up to Origin II, Trbojevic and Manly captain Daly Cherry-Evans missed last week’s clash against Parramatta in which the Sea Eagles were thrashed 34-4.
“There’s two ways we can think about it,” Seibold said. “(Feel) sorry for ourselves about not having Tom for the rest of the season, or give someone else an opportunity and we go again. We’ve handled (Trbojevic’s absences) well, and at different times not so well, but we feel, as a group, at our very best.”
In better news, Manly are set to get Trbojevic’s brothers Ben and Jake back from injury next week as well as centre Brad Parker and second-rower Kelma Tuilagi.
with AAP
Glory Bound
Roar Rookie
I'm surprised that the Dolphins have flown under the radar thus far. They have the salary cap space, could use an experienced HB, still haven't signed a marquee player and Hunt would be reuniting with his old coach Wayne Bennett. It ticks every box for Hunt and he still gets to live near the water.
Glory Bound
Roar Rookie
Firstly, the move is off. So the game and the Dragons are the winners there. Secondly, a double blow for the Broncos with with Reece Walsh suspended for 3 weeks after a careless tripping charge when he tripped over his own tongue on the field. Later, QLD teammate David Fafita tripped over his tongue in confirming Walsh had sworn at the referee when giving his testimony in defence of Walsh. Lazy Davvy has always struggled with his defence. Finally, the Broncos need to stop looking for shortcuts and try to win a premiership which has had them in the top 2 for the last 8 weeks. Of course there is a difference in marquee and rep players thinking that they can fly under the radar in abusing a loophole in the system. L If this was about Jack Wighton coming to Souths next week instead of Hunt to the Broncos of course you would be arguing the opposite. Don't pretend this is anything other than your Broncos bias being given free rein.
Brendon Waldron
Roar Pro
But it is like that, because contracts aren't one way, it's an agreement between the player and the club, not the player to the club. Whether it's the club or the player, if one party wants to terminate the contract, the other party can agree to it or dig their heels in, either way it works for both sides. If you don't want players moving between clubs mid season, I respect that, but the fact is, at the moment, they are allowed to, and if the Dragons do agree to let him go, the NRL can't dictate where he can go, they can't say you can go to this club, but not to that club. And it is fair on the other clubs in the top 8, you know why? Because they can do it too! They are free to pursue Ben Hunt or any other player they think can help them win. My objection isn't whether it's good or bad, it's simply whether it's legal or not and whether the NRL can step in even if they wanted to. Now if the NRL want to prevent this sort of thing from happening in the future, they can change the rules for the next season, they can stop mid season transfers all together, or they change the way the salary cap is structured so clubs can't pay for just a little bit of a star's massive deal and only clubs in a rebuild with lots of cap space can afford them, there's things they can do, but whatever they do, they can't be selective about which clubs it applies to, they can't stop clubs doing well from following following NRL's own rules, it's straight up illegal...
DP Schaefer
Roar Rookie
You’re right, it isn’t new. It’s just getting worse and more exploited. And it’s not like Kerr or other guys who move from being unwanted to wanted, from no opportunity to one. This is a situation where someone going can mean the spoon for the loser and the premiership for where they end up. Only the Bronco supporters think this is a good idea, not fair to the others in the 4/8 or to guys like Walters. Oh, and a qualifier with my comment – my objection is focussed on an immediate leave, not at year’s end. He can go, no point keeping him, but he’s on a promise that we wouldn’t get the spoon so he needs to stay and keep that promise besides not jumping ship midseason.
Brendon Waldron
Roar Pro
There is not some new law that has come into effect that Ben Hunt is the first to take advantage of, he is just the latest of a select few to already do this, and it's select few for a reason. Deals like this are incredibly hard to line up, this one isn't even lined up, it's just being speculated about! Top players are on good money, so if a player like that asks for a release, the contending team needs to have enough space in their cap to afford him and to have an open roster spot this late in the season. And if they are in contention for the premiership, they are probably already settled in their roster and afford to be picky about who they bring in. There's probably hundreds of players that would love to leave their struggling club to go to a successful one, but the successful clubs are in a position to say to almost all of them "no thanks, we're good". The real epidemic the NRL needs to do something about is the reverse, players who ask for a release so they can sign somewhere else for more money. It's usually a crap club willing to pay overs and there's a lot more of them then teams in the running for the premiership, that's why it's the real problem, but the NRL won't do anything about that, so they definitely won't do anything about this...
DP Schaefer
Roar Rookie
The difference there is that those other guys were already on the way out. Not jumping ship. AND it wasn't a good look and shouldn't have been allowed because it would be exploited - supporting my point here that this needs to be stopped (I know Dragoons can do it) - and NRL can step up if they don't.
Train Without A Station
Roar Guru
I'm pointing out your logic can be applied to him playing any position. If he plays 9 he blocks the development of Liddle. Good hookers aren't easy to replace. What's there to suggest Sullivan is going to be difficult to replace? What's proven to suggest he will be a decent NRL 7? Can you tell me what quality Sullivan has other than youth? What a shock he's happy to play 9 at a club with a really good 7. What's that got to do with St George?
Brendon Waldron
Roar Pro
You know that's not what we're talking about, if the rules allow one player to go to a different club mid season, it has to allow the other player, thats what players are players means. But hey, if Reyno wanted out of the Broncos, it wouldn't be in their best interests to keep him. If I was them I would probably block the move back to the rabbitohs and only release him to a struggling team, and that's something the Dragons can do aswell, they can say Hunt can't go to the Broncos if they want to.
Robbo
Roar Rookie
Youre being facetious. He can mentor them at training and I'm sure he does. They have been in the very lucky position to have a rep level number 9 playing at 7. This would have them in the enviable position of being able to have the young 7 playing in that position while he plays 9 except he threw his toys out of the cot at the idea. Its not really stupid at all - he wouldnt be out of position at 9. Hookers are much easier to replace than 7s these days. Sounds like he's happy to play 9 somewhere else for a bit though
Fraser
Roar Rookie
The precedent has already been set. -2021: Tevita Pangai Junior left Broncos and joined Panthers on their run to the premiership, ruling himself out of the Grand Final with injury. -2022: Matt Lodge left Warriors and joined Roosters. Roosters went on an 8 game winning streak to sneak into the finals, losing the Qualifying Final to Rabbitohs.
Birdy
Roar Rookie
I agree with the club rightly said no. The contract system of the NRL and the inconsistency of their rulings is responsible for all the breaches of clubs and players. Hunt is just showing all the kids that follow the game that it's all about me! Sorry ,I left out the managers.
Redcap
Roar Guru
You made the original assertion about some form of dictatorial conduct or coercion, and you haven't even attempted to defend it, merely quibbling, deflecting and rejecting the possibility that there might be a diversity of views among a group of people. Now, when pressed, you hide behind 'oh, you're not very nice.' No, I'm not; I'm a very disagreeable person, especially when presented with flimsy whataboutery. You haven't even mustered an argument yet, just 'yeah but'. And I'm not convincing, apparently. :laughing:
Emcie
Roar Guru
What's the point? First sign of criticism and you resorted to insults. Clearly you're not going to accept anything I have to say and I don't find your responses particularly convincing. Our values don't align, let's leave it at that
Redcap
Roar Guru
It's not a stereotype, it's a comment on the veracity of your commentary. You still haven't answered the question, BTW.
DP Schaefer
Roar Rookie
In one breath you're telling me that people are trying to have adult conversations ( which seems a thinly disguised put down) and in the same breath you're asking to explain pretty obvious stuff like I'm actually talking to children. What I'm warning against is the fact that human and past evidence of NRL sporting nature indicates that players will - in the future - look to get out of their contracts to sign with clubs in stronger positions. Regardless of whether the call is in the hands of the Dragons or not, the NRL should get involved in some regard to do what needs to be done to avoid this. And they can, they can simply refuse to register any contract signed out of these circumstances, starting here. There are times it can work - Kerr - and times it shouldn't - Hunt; Avarilo - I don't have a crystal ball to identify exactly how or when the opening will be taken advantage of improperly, but it will.
Glory Bound
Roar Rookie
"No, players are players" Great! The Broncos can give Adam Reynolds back to Souths and get Lachlan Ilias in a straight trade. After all, players are players. Is it a deal?
Brendon Waldron
Roar Pro
Those aren't the rules we're talking about, but since you had no comeback for it, you resort to accusations you have no proof of. You may be right, and if so they'll face the consequences, but it still isn't what we were talking about...
Train Without A Station
Roar Guru
No. I’m just pointing out the stupidity of your logic. Why can’t he mentor him at training? If playing out of position to accomodate a player who doesn’t make their best 13 on form/ability is the only way to mentor him, then isn’t playing 9 preventing Liddle from being mentored? Or maybe playing 7 he can mentor Liddle at 9? Or since Liddle would lose mentoring at 9, then Ben should play 13. But there’s also probably a promising young lock. So maybe Ben should play prop to mentor them? Or maybe just because a player is young, it doesn’t mean experienced players who are still the best option in their position, shouldn’t be case aside in the hope the young player just magically ends up better.
Robbo
Roar Rookie
Ill respond even though you are clearly being obnoxious. My point is that as a known hooker as well as a halfback and coming to the end of his time in the game, he could have played at hooker and mentored the next halfback. The current halfback in waiting is very young and would have benefited from that in my opinion. It has been said that Hunt refuses to play at hooker for his club despite being the recognised number 9 for Qld. He hasn't to my knowledge played lock for anyone ever, so no mate, you guess wrong by my logic
Muzz Manyana
Roar Rookie
"The same rules for every club" doesn't cut it. Hunt is under contract beyond this season which means any negotiating, offers, touching base with his manager etc etc is breaking the rules and deemed as POACHING. You're kidding yourself if you think there was no contact between the Broncos and Hunts management prior to Hunt requesting a release. This imo is blatant c heating!