'You don't need to tear them to shreds': Boyd's Hunt defence
Adam Pengilly3 September 2018 — 6:19pm
Darius Boyd walked into a school recently to talk about mental health and kids wanted to discuss his mate Ben Hunt.
They know how much money he's earning, how his form has dipped, how his head has gone down and his shoulders have slumped, and how his team began losing. They haven't just been told about it, it's been shoved down their throats. Every word that's been said, they know.
Whipping boy: Ben Hunt has borne the brunt of Dragons fans' frustrations.
Photo: AAP
It raised alarm bells for the Broncos captain, one of the game's quietest men and also one of its most considered.
He walked into the launch of the NRL finals series on Monday, pulled on the helmet, strapped the pads on and took guard. For Hunt. The man he used to play with, but comes up against in a high stakes final on Sunday.
The easy option would be to write Hunt, St George Illawarra's gun playmaker, has found an unlikely ally in the form of an old teammate who hopes to end his season this weekend. But he's not an unlikely ally. He's a mate. One who has been open about a mental health battle.
Dragons
'Very dark place': Pressure mounts on Dragons' Hunt
If anyone was going to stick up for Hunt, Boyd would be the first person. He has watched with dismay as the same little No.7 who ran rings around opposition in his new colours for half the season has been run into the ground of late.
Boyd takes up the story: "I lost a lot of love for the game this year, not the game itself but the negativity that comes with it," he shrugs. "I’ve just noticed it. Whether social media is a big part of it I’m not too sure. There’s a lot of negativity.
"I love the game. I play it, but I’m a fan as well. The negativity, the drama and the scrutiny that comes with it is disappointing as a fan and as a player."
A crisp cutout pass away from Boyd stood Rabbitohs leader Greg Inglis, himself speaking openly about his own mental health battle. Both will lead their proud clubs in September, both a chance of going all the way.
Who knows what will happen in this competition? Of all the storylines that loom in a frighteningly unpredictable start to the finals series, none come close to those emerging from the clash between two of the NRL's best known brands: the Broncos and Dragons.
Mates: Darius Boyd and Ben Hunt at the Broncos, before Hunt's move south to the Dragons.
Photo: AAP
There is Brisbane's last No.7, who became an instant saint in red and white, but has supposedly turned into a sinner because he's having a rough patch. There is Wayne Bennett, on the outer at the Broncos and up against his old team. There is Boyd, back against the club he won a Clive Churchill Medal with. And there is St George Illawarra's record of not winning in Brisbane since 2009, Boyd's first year at the club.
But the conversation always seems to revert to Hunt, the genuine halfback the Dragons have searched more than a decade for who risks being spat out because of what some say is a cyber sewer.
Should the criticism come with the cheque book?
"He’s a good fella, he’s a good mate," Boyd says. "But more importantly we’re all human beings. We play rugby league for the love and the fun of it.
"Yes, it’s a business and there is criticism – it should be constructive – but it doesn’t matter what you get paid and what you do for a job … there’s no reason to put people down and be negative all the time.
"In my opinion we all do the best we can in life and if someone wants to pay you what they pay you then congratulations, you’ve done a great job in life. Just because we’re in that public spotlight … you don’t need to start tearing them to shreds.
"The criticism has been very unfair and unwarranted. Unfortunately that is life sometimes and we have to put up with negative people and naysayers. I think it has gone too far."
At the start of the year, Hunt was asked about the intensity he expected from wearing the famous No.7 Dragons jersey. He said he'd been the halfback for the only team in a town which rides every Broncos play, let alone game. He would handle it.
This week, Dragons skipper Gareth Widdop returns from a shoulder injury. He was quick to stress he's not St George Illawarra's saviour, even quicker to suggest Hunt would get back to having fun.
"Early in the year when we were going well he was the hero," Widdop said. "Now we’re struggling he’s copping all the blame. It’s disappointing to see, but thankfully Ben’s a pretty laidback sort of character.
"I think moving forward he’s got a massive game and going up to Brisbane he’ll be really excited for it. [And] we know within the four walls at the Dragons what we’re capable of and if we turn up with the right attitude we know what we can do on our day."
For the record, Boyd thinks Hunt will be one of his side's best players on his return to Brisbane.
Let's hope the kids hear that too.
https://www.smh.com.au/sport/nrl/yo...reds-boyd-s-hunt-defence-20180903-p501ec.html
