And now are you glad we have signed Ben Hunt ?

[Crush]

Hunt is our saviour!
Dragons 2018!

 

[Brutalitops]

We all have our problems with Mary

But I'm gonna try and say something half positive. Mary did a very very good job of selling our club to Ben Hunt and I must commend him for that, especially seeing as we signed him right of the back of our dire 2016 campaign

By all accounts Mary has done wonders for the morale of our team and everyone seems to get along and gel quite well.

I don't doubt Mary loves this club and wants the best for it. In his eyes he has more to offer I suppose. Of course I wish someone else was in charge of coaching, bench management, game plans, etc: but if and when that happens I would have no problem with Mary sticking around in some OTHER role rather than being ousted from the club completely.

Landing a player like Ben Hunt is something even Wayne Bennett never pulled off for our club.

 

[Overseas dragon]

We all have our problems with Mary

But I'm gonna try and say something half positive. Mary did a very very good job of selling our club to Ben Hunt and I must commend him for that, especially seeing as we signed him right of the back of our dire 2016 campaign

By all accounts Mary has done wonders for the morale of our team and everyone seems to get along and gel quite well.

I don't doubt Mary loves this club and wants the best for it. In his eyes he has more to offer I suppose. Of course I wish someone else was in charge of coaching, bench management, game plans, etc: but if and when that happens I would have no problem with Mary sticking around in some OTHER role rather than being ousted from the club completely.

Landing a player like Ben Hunt is something even Wayne Bennett never pulled off for our club.

DARIUS. BOYD

 

[Overseas dragon]

I know there's some hate here for the way he left the club.he should have been signed for longer .maybe payback is a bitch .vale Uncle wayne

 

[JDHD]

DARIUS. BOYD

Darius Boyd follows Wayne around like a lost puppy though

 

[Brutalitops]

DARIUS. BOYD

Darius goes where Wayne goes by default though, half expected Boyd to change alliegence to England for the world cup

 

[Drag Queen]

Darius Boyd follows Wayne around like a lost puppy though

Given Boyd's upbringing I can totally understand his loyalty to Bennett. To say he is both a father figure and mentor is probably an understatement. Kudos to Bennett for taking him under his wing.

 

[JDHD]

Given Boyd's upbringing I can totally understand his loyalty to Bennett. To say he is both a father figure and mentor is probably an understatement. Kudos to Bennett for taking him under his wing.

Yeah we all know that but to use him as an example of a signing coup by Bennett is a stretch.

 

[Drag Queen]

Yeah we all know that but to use him as an example of a signing coup by Bennett is a stretch.

Beg to differ, but that's Ok.

 

[jak]

We all have our problems with Mary

But I'm gonna try and say something half positive. Mary did a very very good job of selling our club to Ben Hunt and I must commend him for that, especially seeing as we signed him right of the back of our dire 2016 campaign

By all accounts Mary has done wonders for the morale of our team and everyone seems to get along and gel quite well.

I don't doubt Mary loves this club and wants the best for it. In his eyes he has more to offer I suppose. Of course I wish someone else was in charge of coaching, bench management, game plans, etc: but if and when that happens I would have no problem with Mary sticking around in some OTHER role rather than being ousted from the club completely.

Landing a player like Ben Hunt is something even Wayne Bennett never pulled off for our club.

very well said sir. GREAT POST

 

[Life's Good]

I'm going to say something that a lot of people here won't like but I believe to be a reality.

I've done a lot of analysis on Hunt's game, watched him closely over the last year or so, read countless pages of Broncos' forum pages and i've come to the conclusion that Hunt is not a classic organising-style halfback.
Now, hear me out.
Hunt is elite, one of the strongest running halves i've seen for some time, has a nice passing game and a good short kicking game, but I feel like he plays his best football when its off the cuff. He is at his best when he's playing ad-lib football and being able to pick and choose when he attacks, much like the classic 5/8 does (we saw this a lot when he was playing hooker this year as well). He can make a few questionable decisions when the weight of the team is on his shoulders at halfback, even though he's trying his heart out. His long kicking game isn't the greatest either and seems to find it hard to get his team out of trouble at times. It's still a good kicking game however, but it's not in the Cronk/Thurston/Cleary/Morgan/Taylor bracket.
I rarely see him do what those REALLY elite halfbacks do, which is shouting orders at their players, moving the forwards into position, calming the troops down etc. I find it interesting considering Mary's comments, because I feel like it's Hunt who needs that organising halfback next to him so he can play his off-the-cuff style game.

Don't get me wrong, I WANT this guy to be our halfback, he is in the elite bracket of players and is always team first, but I just think that Gareth will need to do a little more organising than Mary thinks.

Well written summary. And the point about Hunts kicking game is what Broncos fans have said for a while.
I, for one, don’t doubt Hunt will add massive value. I have been guilty of thinking he will transform the side on his own. We are still short of speed in the backs(not in short supply at the Broncos)so whilst Hunt will create & deliver he will need other things to fall into place for us to really fire.
This is where I hope Mary can be a bit more adventurous in giving a couple of juniors a go as well as letting Dufty play his natural game.
Trials will be interesting.

 

[JDHD]

Hunt is not going to fix all of our problems instantly. He also starts most seasons off a bit slowly before he gets into a rhythm around round 5 or 6. He's still the best half back we've had since Hornby or Head so I'm still excited.

 

[Drag Queen]

Hunt is not going to fix all of our problems instantly. He also starts most seasons off a bit slowly before he gets into a rhythm around round 5 or 6. He's still the best half back we've had since Hornby or Head so I'm still excited.

Still an upgrade on what we had JDHD. Bronco's fans don't hold him in high esteem though. Defector mentality me thinks. Much like the way we treated BMoz and Dugan when they left us. I think he'll go great guns in the Red V.

 

[BennyV]

We all have our problems with Mary

But I'm gonna try and say something half positive. Mary did a very very good job of selling our club to Ben Hunt and I must commend him for that, especially seeing as we signed him right of the back of our dire 2016 campaign

By all accounts Mary has done wonders for the morale of our team and everyone seems to get along and gel quite well.

I don't doubt Mary loves this club and wants the best for it. In his eyes he has more to offer I suppose. Of course I wish someone else was in charge of coaching, bench management, game plans, etc: but if and when that happens I would have no problem with Mary sticking around in some OTHER role rather than being ousted from the club completely.

Landing a player like Ben Hunt is something even Wayne Bennett never pulled off for our club.

Wholeheartedly disagree. He is representative of everything that is wrong with our club and the sooner he is removed all together, the better.

 

[BennyV]

I'm going to say something that a lot of people here won't like but I believe to be a reality.

I've done a lot of analysis on Hunt's game, watched him closely over the last year or so, read countless pages of Broncos' forum pages and i've come to the conclusion that Hunt is not a classic organising-style halfback.
Now, hear me out.
Hunt is elite, one of the strongest running halves i've seen for some time, has a nice passing game and a good short kicking game, but I feel like he plays his best football when its off the cuff. He is at his best when he's playing ad-lib football and being able to pick and choose when he attacks, much like the classic 5/8 does (we saw this a lot when he was playing hooker this year as well). He can make a few questionable decisions when the weight of the team is on his shoulders at halfback, even though he's trying his heart out. His long kicking game isn't the greatest either and seems to find it hard to get his team out of trouble at times. It's still a good kicking game however, but it's not in the Cronk/Thurston/Cleary/Morgan/Taylor bracket.
I rarely see him do what those REALLY elite halfbacks do, which is shouting orders at their players, moving the forwards into position, calming the troops down etc. I find it interesting considering Mary's comments, because I feel like it's Hunt who needs that organising halfback next to him so he can play his off-the-cuff style game.

Don't get me wrong, I WANT this guy to be our halfback, he is in the elite bracket of players and is always team first, but I just think that Gareth will need to do a little more organising than Mary thinks.

Gotta disagree with this, too.

If you look at the last season and a half for Hun, you'd be correct. But at his best in 2014 and 2015 he was the general for the Broncos. Often played first receiver, showed a very good attacking kicking game (long kicking still only ok) and drove the side around the park. His running game was an added bonus.

Following the 2015 GF, Bennett strangely confined him to the right side with Milford on the left. His running game became more prominent because he didn't have any organising to do - ie, creativity became his go-to, rather than a handy tool to have in the belt.

He's definitely got the ability to lead a team around the park. People seem to forget just how huge he was in 2014-2015.

Oh, and I put as much stock in Broncos fans opinions of Hunt as I do in Souffs fans opinion of McInnes - pure sour grapes. Players they sign are always the best and those they lose were never that good.

 

[Drag Queen]

Wholeheartedly disagree. He is representative of everything that is wrong with our club and the sooner he is removed all together, the better.

 

[Drag Queen]

Too blind to edit. Time for pizza.

 

[Belta]

I think it is possible to over analyse a player. He does display all the good qualities mentioned and is also (along with Widdop) a very good defender. He is experienced, a proven performer and most importantly looks like a player ready to peak and ready to go to the next level. Agree that we still may not have an elite, clinical kicker but I think Widdop was vastly improved this season and was I feel between himself and Widdop we do enough to capitalise on the forwards good work. Still don't have a long range kicker (

i believe he will be consistently solid and be a good fit. I like how he rated McInnes and sees how he is wanting to create something special between himself, McInnes and Widdop. He seems like he wants to come here with big aspirations and is wanting to make a statement, and be part of a legacy. He obviously wants to play rep footy and will want to play well to give him the best chance.

Well done recruitment, one of your best..imo

 

[Life's Good]

Wholeheartedly disagree. He is representative of everything that is wrong with our club and the sooner he is removed all together, the better.

So basically ‘There’s nothing about Mary’.

 

[Saint_JimmyG]

We all have our problems with Mary

But I'm gonna try and say something half positive. Mary did a very very good job of selling our club to Ben Hunt and I must commend him for that, especially seeing as we signed him right of the back of our dire 2016 campaign

By all accounts Mary has done wonders for the morale of our team and everyone seems to get along and gel quite well.

I don't doubt Mary loves this club and wants the best for it. In his eyes he has more to offer I suppose. Of course I wish someone else was in charge of coaching, bench management, game plans, etc: but if and when that happens I would have no problem with Mary sticking around in some OTHER role rather than being ousted from the club completely.

Landing a player like Ben Hunt is something even Wayne Bennett never pulled off for our club.

Make no mistake, it was the size of the stipend, not McGregor, that brought Hunt to the club.