And now are you glad we have signed Ben Hunt ?

[Dragonslayer]

I think one of the most significant players this year is going to be McInnes. He's the one who's going to select which player to pass to be that hunt or widdop. It's his pass selection he's going to be key this year.
I would also like McInnes to run the ball a lot more this year and put defense in three Minds about what is happening. Will he run? Will he pass to Widdop? What will he pass to hunt?
I think this will open up opportunities on both sides of the ruck and even create space for our forwards.
So for mine, McInnis is going to play a crucial role this year.

 

[Frank Facer]

Tom
Agree with you.
Even Mary can not be that stupid.
He will play both sides.
IMo

Milward said that we signed Hunt to play both sides of the field, just like a real halfback should.

 

[dragonssamy61]

Milward said that we signed Hunt to play both sides of the field, just like a real halfback should.

Agree frank.

 

[Frank Facer]

Hunt played his best football, when he was playing both sides of the field. I think that Bennett had a negative effect on Hunts game. I think he stifled Hunt and made him play mainly on the right side of the field. Maybe that is one reason that Hunt left Brisbane and Bennett? Maybe us offering Hunt the opportunity to play both sides of the field, was a factor in him signing with us?

A halfback should always play both sides of the field. A halfback should run the game, but he can't do that from only one side of the field.

The fact that Millward said that one of the reasons that we bought Hunt, was because we wanted a halfback who can play both sides of the field. That is a tick next to Millward and our coaching staff.

 

[mickeylane]

Hunt played his best football, when he was playing both sides of the field. I think that Bennett had a negative effect on Hunts game. I think he stifled Hunt and made him play mainly on the right side of the field. Maybe that is one reason that Hunt left Brisbane and Bennett? Maybe us offering Hunt the opportunity to play both sides of the field, was a factor in him signing with us?

A halfback should always play both sides of the field. A halfback should run the game, but he can't do that from only one side of the field.

The fact that Millward said that one of the reasons that we bought Hunt, was because we wanted a halfback who can play both sides of the field. That is a tick next to Millward and our coaching staff.

Hunt feels like a $6m player and will accordingly play like one.. He knows he's the "man" at the Dragons and he loves the pressure.. Dally M player of the year special .. As long as injury doesn't get in the way..,

 

[TomRedVRiver]

If I was the coaching staff I would be putting a lot of work into Ben's long kicking game.

In my analysis, I found that he finds the back 3 on the full too often rather than finding open pasture. We already know he has an incredible running and passing game and his short kicking game is solid, but his long kicking game needs work if he wants to become the complete halfback.

 

[Overseas dragon]

Hunt feels like a $6m player and will accordingly play like one.. He knows he's the "man" at the Dragons and he loves the pressure.. Dally M player of the year special .. As long as injury doesn't get in the way..,

Ben hunts done a Kyrie Irving so it seems..................

 

[Como Connection]

If I was the coaching staff I would be putting a lot of work into Ben's long kicking game.

In my analysis, I found that he finds the back 3 on the full too often rather than finding open pasture. We already know he has an incredible running and passing game and his short kicking game is solid, but his long kicking game needs work if he wants to become the complete halfback.

Get Jamie aboard.
CC

 

[dragonssamy61]

Get Jamie aboard.
CC

CC
Would he come back to coach while Mary's there.
What your option Cc

 

[TomRedVRiver]

It's a shame Walters is back at the Broncos as the halves coach. Hunt was unstoppable when Walters was mentoring him in 2014/15.

 

[possm]

CC
Would he come back to coach while Mary's there.
What your option Cc

It was Price Soward had problems with.

 

[dragonssamy61]

It was Price Soward had problems with.

Yeap you are right but I can't see Mary askung sowie for help or anyone else.
Mary not know for that.
But hopefully he does

 

[possm]

Yeap you are right but I can't see Mary askung sowie for help or anyone else.
Mary not know for that.
But hopefully he does

Yeap you are right but maybe a frustrated Millward will play a role in making this happen. Coyne seems to have influence and a big say in what is happening on the football side of things, maybe he can see the benefit in such a move.

One has to ask, how many extra people and reduced responsibilities does Mary need to cope with the duties of head coach. He has so many assitants and now has very little responsibility with recruiting that his overall performance results surely highlights his own performance as head coach must be questionable.

 

[dragonssamy61]

Agree possm
From what I see at training.
They are trying different things and styles.
Hopefully he will let them implement them.
We have a lot of leaders now with Graham and hunt there as well.
So let hope it happen.
We will soon find out

 

[Crush]

Just a thought, how long will it take for the forum to turn on Hunt if he isn't the messiah?
I can just see a "punt hunt" thread popping up mid-season if we aren't looking like top 4.

 

[BennyV]

Just a thought, how long will it take for the forum to turn on Hunt if he isn't the messiah?
I can just see a "punt hunt" thread popping up mid-season if we aren't looking like top 4.

I wouldn’t be so worried about mid-season...it’s the end of the season that will be the concern when we slide down the ladder!

 

[JDHD]

Just a thought, how long will it take for the forum to turn on Hunt if he isn't the messiah?
I can just see a "punt hunt" thread popping up mid-season if we aren't looking like top 4.

Minutes. If he doesn't have a blinder from the opening whistle of round 1 (and he won't - he's always needed a few weeks to get into gear) then people will crucify him and the club for dropping $1 mil on him.

 

[Walpole]

Just a thought, how long will it take for the forum to turn on Hunt if he isn't the messiah?
I can just see a "punt hunt" thread popping up mid-season if we aren't looking like top 4.

There'll be people here crucifying him if we don't put 50 on Hull.

 

[Crush]

I wouldn’t be so worried about mid-season...it’s the end of the season that will be the concern when we slide down the ladder!

Not this year Benny. I blame Dugan, Packer, Thommo and Milne for that slide. We got rid of the those tankers.

 

[pinkmoon]

I know this won't mean much to some people and i'm sure that we'll have a few people dismiss this immediately, but SuperCoach stats can be very telling of a player's work-rate and attacking contributions. Not sure if these numbers will mean anything to anyone, but basically anything above 60 is very good.

In 2014, Ben Hunt averaged 71.5, which is huge. He was pumping out the try assists and line-breaks playing on both sides of the field.
In 2015, he averaged 65. Still very impressive. This is when Milford came into the side so the attack was shared with Milf and Hunt, but he was still playing both sides and his involvements took the Broncos to a Grand Final.
In 2016, he averaged 55 after his positional change. He was confined to that side of the field and his usual line-breaks and try assists weren't as consistent.

I actually think that Hunts game suffered as a result of this positional change. His kicking game wasn't as effective and he had quite a few inconsistent patches. In 2014/15, everything he touched turned to gold.

The stats mean nothing (like most statistics) because they don't tell enough of a tale. Hypothetically speaking, If Matt Gillett happened to miss the bulk of 2016 through injury, it could account for a lack of try assists against Ben Hunt's name. If Brisbane's pack were off the boil, it could account for a lack of try assists, maybe the drop ball in the GF did play with his confidence, maybe he found out that his wife cheated on him in the 2016 pre-season, maybe he had a punch up with one of the left edge forwards and they were chirping at each other all game? There are far too many variables to assume that it was because he was perched on the right side of the field.

Bennett is no fool and he would have his reasons; reasons that you or I could know nothing about. He would have more of a clue than anyone on this forum.

At the end of the day, Hunt will probably take half a season to a year to find his feet at Saints and then he might come good or maybe he will hit the ground running; who knows?! But these statistics and this headstrong argument about what side of the field he plays on has nothing to do with whether he will be successful, under utilised or a complete waste of money.