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Ben Hunt

Dragsters

First Grade
Messages
5,331
Well done Ben Hunt.

Dealt with his doubters the best way possible by bouncing back under enormous pressure surrounded by thousands of haters in a packed Lang park.

I hope that bloke on the fence holding th sign saying " Kick it to Ben Hunt" is still using it to wipe the tears from his eyes!

Well managed game especially after Widdop left the field.

That 40/20 was sublime.

I have every confidence a Hunt can step up again next week...
 

ouryears

Bench
Messages
3,195
I sincerely hope that those who were hurling abuse at him do not attempt to take the credit for today’s performance.
On that day, not today, but on that day, the team needed the rev up they got.
No excuse for that performance.
Yes.....They have redeemed themselves.
No apologies for ranting after that 38/0 loss.
Move on.
 

Drag Queen

Bench
Messages
2,981
I sincerely hope that those who were hurling abuse at him do not attempt to take the credit for today’s performance.
Not at all Muz. I've doubted Hunt for a few long weeks. When it became apparent that he was suffering mentally I backed off. What a way to stick it back to your ex Xx
 

j0nesy

Bench
Messages
3,747
He played ok - still didnt run the ball once today but hopefully hes saving it for the rabbitohs...hes still a little off his best - today he played like a normal halfback should...was solid without being spectacular...

Really? Geez I must have watched a different game. His kicking game and general game management was superb. He didn’t need to run the ball much the way our backrowers were destroying them up the middle. He played exactly what was in front of him and had an outstanding game.
 

dragon-83

Juniors
Messages
1,531
He just has to believe back himself and have confidence in his own ability and of course needs the forwards to lay the platform.
 

Slippery Morris

First Grade
Messages
7,395
Having Widdop for those 57mins was gold as it was enough to help Hunt regain his form. By the end of the game he was back to his best.

The beauty of the 40/20 was it was at a time it was not needed as Saints were miles ahead and he could have easily just rolled it over the sideline but he backed himself.

Hunt is a class act and knew he would get his mojo back especially playing at a ground he knows like the back of his hand. Well done Ben.
 
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getsmarty

Immortal
Messages
33,485
walter_20180910.jpg


WINNING STARTS MONDAY


Why the focus on NRL playmakers is unhealthy
Author
Brad Walter Senior Reporter
Timestamp
Mon 10 Sep 2018, 01:38 PM

"How's Ben Hunt, he looks like he's in a pretty dark place at the moment?"

"How's Benny, because he has copped a lot of criticism and it would have to knock him about a little bit?"

"How have you worked on trying to put Ben Hunt back together, because his confidence looks shot?"

There has hardly been a media interview with a St George Illawarra player or coach Paul McGregor during the past month which hasn't involved a question about star halfback Ben Hunt.

Even after the Dragons 48-18 defeat of Brisbane in Sunday's elimination final at Suncorp Stadium, McGregor was asked: "How is Ben Hunt, after some of the criticism he has copped recently?"

McGregor replied: "He was involved in a 48-18 win and he was part of a 1-17, like he is every week. He gets the blame for a lot of things he shouldn't and I am just glad he is in that shed smiling."

Match Highlights: Broncos v Dragons - Week 1 Finals, 2018

The scrutiny and focus on NRL playmakers this season has become unhealthy.

If their team wins the likes of Hunt, Shaun Johnson, Anthony Milford and Nathan Cleary are heroes. If their teams lose, they are failures.

The Broncos' season had barely finished when it was suggested during the post-match analysis on one radio station that the club needed to consider buying a new halfback to either play alongside Milford or replace him.

Forget that Milford had steered Brisbane to a home final after impressive wins over Manly, Sydney Roosters and South Sydney in their last three matches of the regular season, playing behind a forward pack missing Matt Gillett, Jayden Su'a, Jack Bird and Payne Haas.

Johnson has now come under fire in Auckland after the Warriors' 27-12 season-ending finals loss to Penrith on Saturday night, with the Kiwi superstar described as a "million-dollar flop" in a New Zealand Herald article which began: "If only Shaun Johnson had Jazz Tevaga's heart".

Former Warriors coach Tony Kemp also said on radio on Monday that the club may not re-sign Johnson when he comes off contract at the end of next season.

Kemp suggested the Warriors should be "throwing $2 million at someone like Nathan Cleary, a 20-year-old who has the goods to show up week in and week out".

However, commentator Dale Budge told Radio Sport it was unfair to blame Johnson solely for the Warriors' defeat in a game in which they lost captain Roger Tuivasa-Sheck with a knee injury midway through the first half and their forwards were outmuscled by the Panthers.

Match Highlights: Panthers v Warriors – Finals Week 1, 2018

"I don't understand New Zealand sports fans' obsession with trying to bag certain players. I put him in the same category as Brendon McCullum," Budge said.

"Shaun Johnson is never going to be Cooper Cronk or Johnathan Thurston. He's never going to be able to inspire a team that isn't dominating up the middle third with the forwards."

Brett Finch once blamed Andrew Johns for setting a standard other halfbacks couldn't live up and now it's Cronk and Thurston who playmakers are compared to.

Cleary hasn't been immune to criticism either after the Panthers dropped from first place going into State of Origin and suffered a string of losses while his NSW halves partner James Maloney was injured.

It was even suggested that Cleary and Maloney don't get on.

"That's just part of the 24-7 news cycle isn't it," McGregor said of the constant re-evaluating of the worth of NRL playmakers. "That's just part of their job isn't it – to either praise or to criticise."

With such heavy scrutiny, it is little surprise that Hunt last week revealed to NRL.com he had withdrawn from social media and was seeing a psychologist, or that Mitchell Pearce had reached out to offer him support.

Few playmakers have been more maligned than Pearce but after moving from the Roosters to Newcastle this season he has been earning praise rather than criticism because the expectations are lower.

What casual observers of the game wouldn't realise that Hunt remains fifth in the NRL for try assists (15) and equal 12th for line-break assists (11) with Johnson.

Hunt, who was personally targeted by some Dragons fans as he walked up the tunnel at Jubilee Oval two weeks ago following the team's capitulation to Canterbury, was being praised on Sunday for a performance in which he had a hand in three tries and produced a 40/20 kick.

"It's a really good feeling," Hunt told Sunday Night with Matty Johns. "I've been copping a bit of a hiding the past month or so. To come out tonight and really get into them, it was very satisfying."

nrl2018_finals-bracket-week-2_1650x1080.jpg


https://www.dragons.com.au/news/2018/09/10/why-the-focus-on-nrl-playmakers-is-unhealthy/
 

getsmarty

Immortal
Messages
33,485
Dragons 2018: Hunt confident after Broncos bounce-back
AFL
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Ben Hunt celebrates the Dragons win over Brisbane on Sunday. Picture: AAP

IT says a lot about the flak Dragons half Ben Hunt’s copped of late that several of his former Broncos teammates joined him in the away shed after his side’s stunning 48-18 finals victory.

Broncos skipper Draius Boyd had felt compelled to jump to Hunt’s defence in the lead-up, saying the relentless nature of criticism was unwarranted unfair.

A large section of his own fans didn’t listen, brandishing signs that read ‘kick it to Hunt’ and jeering him at every kickoff.

“Which kickoff?” he said. when asked if he heard the jeers.

“Every one seemed to keep coming. Duft [Matt Dufty] said ‘I’ll swap you’ and I went over the other side and they just kept coming.”

Hunt stood up to the barrage without error on multiple occasions as his side ran in 28 points in a first-half boil-over. He could have enjoyed the last laugh but he wasn’t about to rub it in his critics’ face ahead of Saturday’s clash with the Rabbitohs.

‘‘That’s not my attitude at all,” he said.

“I’ve played a lot of footy now and the people I play for isn’t my critics, it’s for my teammates, to make my family proud and that’s going to be one motivation next week.

“The last month, month and a half has been pretty aggressive down there, the fans the media, everyone but it’s something that’s part of rugby league. You’ve just got to learn how to deal with that and move on.

“I’ll definitely take a lot out of [Sunday], even last week against the Knights I really simplified what I wanted do.

“I felt like I achieved that last week and just wanted to build on it again this week. Especially at the back end of the game I thought I did that.

“The biggest things [next week] will be what I’ve focused on the last two weeks, just defending well and finishing our sets with kicks really well. That’s the main job I’ll be focusing on.”

A return to his pre-Origin form it was not, but putting Tariq Sims over for the first of his three tries and a measured kicking game, including a 40-20, to get his side home will his confidence a world of good.

He’ll need every bit of it against the Rabbitohs, with Gareth Widdop’s season over after again dislocating the shoulder that kept him out of the Dragons final three games of the regular season.

He’ll join Paul Vaughan, Jason Nightingale, Euan Aitken and possibly Jack de Belin – who re-injured his ankle in the win – in a crowded casualty ward. It will see the Dragons start at long odds against the Rabbitohs but it’s a position they clearly relished in week one.

“I remember him doing it the first time and that was a minimum 3-4 week injury and he did it again tonight and, straight away, he knew he was gone,” Hunt said.

“I played at the Broncos for a long time and they can score some tries pretty quickly. I saw him go off and I thought ‘here we go, this could really be a turning point for us’ but we managed the hang on. It was disappointing but he was the difference for us.

“He’s such a class player and takes a load off your shoulders your shoulders knowing he’s in the other side. We’ll have to try and work our how we play well [without him]. It’ll simplify things, we’ll play a more simple go-forward sort of game.

“We’ll be feeling pretty confident after [the win], I think we showed we can really do something in this competition.”

https://www.illawarramercury.com.au/story/5635729/hunt-confident-after-broncos-bounce-back/?cs=2375
 

MILEY CYRUS

Juniors
Messages
187
Some positive signs but I’m still not sold on him...
No coincidence Widdop being there took pressure of Hunt but with Widdop again out next week it’s a big ask.

He needs to run more, and still I get nervous when he kicks as he tends to kick through the defensive line rather then over it...has charge down written all over it..

Because he never got tackled with the ball. Somehow he always manages to offload it. Love it.
 

getsmarty

Immortal
Messages
33,485
Dragons halfback Ben Hunt reveals the reasons he sought help to improve his mental health
Dragons
pamela_whaley.jpg

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Dragons’ Ben Hunt sought help to improve his mental health once he realised he couldn’t move on from a bad game. Picture: Brett CostelloSource: News Corp Australia
BEN Hunt has been through the rugby league wringer this season.

Eventually, it all got too much for the Dragons halfback, who recently sought the help of a mental health professional.

Following Josh Dugan’s emotional press conference on Tuesday, Hunt said he couldn’t speak for all players but encouraged anyone struggling with negative thoughts to seek help.

“I can’t speak for everyone but it’s definitely helped me a lot,” he said.

Semi Final
“Everyone goes through different things in their career and ups and downs and handle it different ways. It’s definitely benefited me a lot. I was going through a pretty tough patch. I couldn’t get my head around things or sort myself out, which I usually did.



“My wife really encouraged me to see someone and I’m glad I did it.”

Hunt’s rollercoaster season began on a high with the Dragons winning nine of their first 11 games, which led to his selection for Queensland. It started to take a dive after he was dropped to the bench for the third game of State of Origin series and he copped criticism for decisions he made with the game on the line.



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Hunt opens up on mental state

5:39
After halves partner Gareth Widdop succumbed to a shoulder injury, the Dragons began to slip down the NRL ladder and Hunt bore the brunt of the blame.

He said while he usually has no trouble moving on, he couldn’t let go of the negative thoughts and would sit and over-think his decisions.

“It was mainly just moving on from things that have happened,” he said.

“I don’t usually sit around and dwell on things and think things over, but I found myself doing that a lot. I just couldn’t move on from things. It was more about letting that pass and living in the present and focusing on what’s ahead of me.

“It was in the past month or month and a half. I just couldn’t stop thinking about negative things that I’d been doing, which I’ve never done in my career so I wanted to find a way to get over it.”


He's done a lot for the kid

1:27
Hunt has been refreshingly open and honest about seeking help to get his mind back on track, but said it can be especially difficult for men, and in particular NRL players, to admit they need help.

“We want to be the big tough guy out on the field that doesn’t need help from anyone but I definitely think people do at times,” he said.

“I think you’ve got to realise that you get to a point where you can’t help yourself anymore and you have to go and seek some. I definitely encourage any other guy who’s in that situation, I definitely encourage them to do it.

“I feel a lot better, I’m playing freer footy and I feel like I’ve got a weight off my shoulders and I’m enjoying my footy again.



https://www.foxsports.com.au/nrl/nr...h/news-story/5a3641c16a368ffdff0a2bb3da3a04b4
 

giboz71

First Grade
Messages
8,895
Halves are just like Quarterbacks in the NFL now.

They have always been important, but since the era of Johns, Lockyer and JT, the scrutiny on them now is huge. Teams largely live and die by these guys.

That’s why they get the massive contracts.

The best halves usually have the mentality to deliver when it matters most. In Hunt’s case, once he does it once in a big game, the sky’s the limit for him.

He just needs to ice that one big game, hopefully in this finals series.
 
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