Ben Hunt willing to take a pay cut

[TruSaint]

I'm not doubting his ability. I see his true ability as much as the next bloke.
My problem is with his consistency. He has too many bad games. He makes crucial errors under pressure. His head goes down. He is very fragile, very sensitive. I actually feel really sorry for the bloke.
I hope he lifts this season, rises to the occasion. He has a big job, he's the playmaker, he's our marquee player.
He needs to lead us. He is an Australian International after all.

Yeah, he has ability at 7 or 9.
At either role, he is pivotal.
I think all here agree he has talent, but only from what I have seen at Saints, he fades in and out of games, and when the game is there for the taking, he rarely steps up. Body language a worry. Hope that changes.

 

[getsmarty]

I agree with you regarding starting Clune, I'd like to see the same thing.
And totally agree re Norman.
But I disagree Ben Hunt is the least of our problems, I'd say he is high up the list.

Agree and we can agree to disagree re Hunt......in the scheme of things ( current world upheavals etc ) it seems minor to me. have a great weekend.

 

[TruSaint]

All good @getsmarty ...
Would be bloody boring if we all agreed.

Enjoy.

 

[BLM01]

I believe we have the right to ‘scrutinise’ Hunt as much as we ‘scrutinise’ McGregor.

Hunt has been a massive overpaid failure. Crap kicking game. Incapable of lifting a team as other halfbacks can. What pisses me off most is when things aren’t going cruisey he drops his head way too much.

Bennett dropped him to reggies a few years back. It needs to happen again.

I think you are a tad bit harsh with the words "massive and failure" in the same sentence
..overpaid..probably agree
Short kicking game...definitely not as good.as it shouild.....long..OK
Yes lifting the guys like the other good halfbacks.. agree...head dropper and noticeable..agree
But i watched the 1st 2 games of this year again in recent weeks with a clear mind and watched Ben.
I thought he was pretty good in both games 6-7/10 performances..
Norman was a bit down
Our forwards and lack of go forward from kick returns, restarts etc...was bit concerning
Attack improved except when it got close to the line
What was very alarming..was falling off tackles or inability to contain a relatively small Tigers pack and just plain lack of cohesion and holes in the middle and edges when defending

 

[Old Timer]

I actually wonder how Hunt got all the hype about him?

In an era with JT & Cronk being dominant Hunt appeared to me to be a poor man's Mitchell Pearce who had even more hype about him but is also unable to transfer it into anything other than being a just better than average club footballer.

Pearce in fact is tougher and less likely to be head down than Hunt and promised so much but failed to deliver when it mattered most and Hunt is a similar package IMO.

Hunt came along at a time when our stocks were so low he looked to be the possible fix to a huge problem but the problem is greater than his ability or leadership qualities as it was for Widdop who IMO looked streets in front of Hunt in most if not all aspects of the game.

 

[BLM01]

I actually wonder how Hunt got all the hype about him?

In an era with JT & Cronk being dominant Hunt appeared to me to be a poor man's Mitchell Pearce who had even more hype about him but is also unable to transfer it into other than being a just better than average club footballer.

Pearce in fact is tougher and less likely to be head down than Hunt and promised so much but failed to deliver when it mattered most and Hunt is a similar package IMO.

Hunt came along at a time when our stocks were so low he looked to be the possible fix to a huge problem but the problem is greater than his ability or leadership qualities as it was for Widdop who IMO looked streets in front of Hunt in most if not all aspects of the game.

Fair analogy but i think Widdop and Hunt went OK together but they were just the same type of player playing on the wrong side at times...our coach and recruitment failed to see this and got over-excited with the proposition of them playing together.
Now Norman is that different type of player who can orchestrate the team with a bit of the off the cuff stuff, and kicking game..with Hunt doing all the off the cuff stuff and running.
Just need a coach now to get em working together as a unit within a team getting the best out of them by squeezing the orange dry. It wont happen under M...

 

[Kylez3]

Hunt has an above average skill set and is a likeable person, but his confidence is absolutely shot and appears a shadow of the player he was before the 2015 GF. Some of the decisions he makes under pressure are inexcusably bad and the kicking game has regressed significantly.

It's honestly sad to watch. I really hope he can turn it around and finish his career strongly but time is running out.

 

[muzby]

Hunt’s an opportunistic playmaker - he’ll play what’s in front of him.

Our issue is we have a rigid attacking system which doesn’t allow him to play to his strengths.

 

[Old Timer]

Hunt’s an opportunistic playmaker - he’ll play what’s in front of him.

Our issue is we have a rigid attacking system which doesn’t allow him to play to his strengths.

The part in bold is true and when it comes to kicking it's the oppositions legs or the dead ball line.

 

[Crush]

The part in bold is true and when it comes to kicking it's the oppositions legs or the dead ball line.

He loves a 7 tackle set. I'd love to see a stat which player gives away most 7 tackle sets by drilling the ball into the 3rd row behind the dead ball line. Our Benny has to be up there!

 

[avocado]

I think you are a tad bit harsh with the words "massive and failure" in the same sentence
.overpaid..probably agree
Short kicking game...definitely not as good.as it shouild.....long..OK
Yes lifting the guys like the other good halfbacks.. agree...head dropper and noticeable..agree

So we agree then. Goodo.

 

[BLM01]

So we agree then. Goodo.

Not quite..I think he still has something to offer our squad in a positive way with Norman controlling things
The proof will be in the pudding this year.

 

[avocado]

I actually wonder how Hunt got all the hype about him?

In an era with JT & Cronk being dominant Hunt appeared to me to be a poor man's Mitchell Pearce who had even more hype about him but is also unable to transfer it into other than being a just better than average club footballer.

Pearce in fact is tougher and less likely to be head down than Hunt and promised so much but failed to deliver when it mattered most and Hunt is a similar package IMO.

Hunt came along at a time when our stocks were so low he looked to be the possible fix to a huge problem but the problem is greater than his ability or leadership qualities as it was for Widdop who IMO looked streets in front of Hunt in most if not all aspects of the game.

Hunt was a very good halfback under Bennett. One of the best. Most weeks.
I was happy when we signed him (hooray a real halfback) but always felt uneasy about the (alleged) price we paid, and the length of the contract. It was a huge risk that imo has backfired.

I was there for his first game for us. He had a blinder. Too inconsistent ever since.

 

[avocado]

Not quite..I think he still has something to offer our squad in a positive way with Norman controlling things
The proof will be in the pudding this year.

You’re not convincing me mate. I think you’re grasping to hope, but hey we all do that I guess.

 

[BLM01]

You’re not convincing me mate. I think you’re grasping to hope, but hey we all do that I guess.

You are right avo...I am not doing a very good job. I am hoping...that he has a good year. We will see.
But PO McRuinCareer will help.

 

[avocado]

You are right avo...I am not doing a very good job. I am hoping...that he has a good year. We will see.
But PO McRuinCareer will help.

I’m harsh on Hunt, but I feel EVERY other player would shine under Bellamy or Bennett or Robinson or Stuart. Even Aitken, who is one of the worst centres I’ve seen, would play origin if he played for the Storm. The guy is brimming with potential. Runs super hard. Oozes physicality and strength. Severely lacking in footy smarts. Just had his career destroyed by McGregor. Poor bastard.

 

[BLM01]

I’m harsh on Hunt, but I feel EVERY other player would shine under Bellamy or Bennett or Robinson or Stuart. Even Aitken, who is one of the worst centres I’ve seen, would play origin if he played for the Storm. The guy is brimming with potential. Runs super hard. Oozes physicality and strength. Severely lacking in footy smarts. Just had his career destroyed by McGregor. Poor bastard.

Now your talking 100% agree
I can name 10 players in our squad that would be better under 14 in fact probably 15 other NRL coaches.

 

[redandwhite4evr]

If he is the highest paid player, his income loss will be bigger.

Not as simple as that GS- no one knows ( he hasn't said anything publicly to my knowledge) what Hunt thinks is a fair deal for the lowest paid players. In Paul Kent's article "No room for the battlers" in the Daily Telegraph (Sat 23/5), he reports how the lowest paid players were effectively abandoned by the RLPA, the higher paid players and their player managers during the recent pay cut negotiations with the NRL in the pursuit of self-interest. Kent claimed that James Graham was the lone voice for the lower paid players during these negotiations.

While the agreed 20% cut was across the board and superficially fair, it hid a misinterpretation. It was a cut to their full year contract- not just to what remained to be paid. Players had already been paid 60% of their 2020 entitlements and it left someone on a $110,000 a year contract on around $23K, before tax, or $1000 per week, for the remaining 5 months.

Kent cited the example of Canberra's Luke Bateman who couldn't afford the public service driven high Canberra rent and, with his partner, has had to quit the NRL to return to hometown Brisbane for a job with family- no jobs in Canberra or anywhere due to Covid 19. Bateman wasn't Robinson Crusoe.

PAYE taxpayers are subject to progressive income tax levels which recognise the disproportionate impact of higher tax brackets on lower paid workers. If this principle had been applied in this situation, Bateman should have had a pay cut of say 5-10% which would have given him a fighting chance of keeping his NRL dream alive.

 

[SBD82]

Hunt’s an opportunistic playmaker - he’ll play what’s in front of him.

Our issue is we have a rigid attacking system which doesn’t allow him to play to his strengths.

I agree, and I’d add that the simplicity of that rigid attacking system that further stifles him. For his show and go to be effective he needs legitimate options on his outside to put doubt in the minds of the defenders.

When was the last time we saw Hunt get a ball one or two wide of the ruck with a retreating defence and options on his outside?

At the end of the day his recruitment was a poor decision. Not because of the dollars involved or because I think he has nothing to offer a footy team, but because his strengths aren’t compatible with the role for which he was bought.

McGregor made the same mistake with Benji.

 

[BLM01]

I agree, and I’d add that the simplicity of that rigid attacking system that further stifles him. For his show and go to be effective he needs legitimate options on his outside to put doubt in the minds of the defenders.

When was the last time we saw Hunt get a ball one or two wide of the ruck with a retreating defence and options on his outside?

At the end of the day his recruitment was a poor decision. Not because of the dollars involved or because I think he has nothing to offer a footy team, but because his strengths aren’t compatible with the role for which he was bought.

McGregor made the same mistake with Benji.

Exactly..and Steve Price the same. Our recruitment has tried to do their job under coaches and maybe board wishes.
Our blind board just cannot see or grasp it...clinging onto and blaming the wrong departments thinking changes thus far will massively turn things around.