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Hunt has asked for a release

SHOULD BEN HUNT BE MOVED ON BEFORE THE 2024 SEASON?

  • Yes

    Votes: 20 95.2%
  • No

    Votes: 1 4.8%

  • Total voters
    21
  • Poll closed .

Slippery Morris

First Grade
Messages
7,875
Saints can easily afford Luai in 2025 by just offering him Hunt's money and releasing Hunt.

Problem is no club is stupid enough to offer a 34-35 year old 900k+ only the Saints would. If Hunt gets an injury next season and it is a serious one, Saints will be stuck with him for 2025 as he will definitely not be wanted then by anyone. If Saints were to release Hunt and use his cash it would be this off season.

If Saints fire next year on the back of juniors, Saints will be able to go in the market and pick up anyone to fill the gaps like the Panthers do, unfortunately the way the team is now they have no hope. Let's hope Flanno has an outstanding season and if so will be the best buy for the club in many years to come.
 
Last edited:
Messages
818
Saints can easily afford Luai in 2025 by just offering him Hunt's money and releasing Hunt.

Problem is no club is stupid enough to offer a 34-35 year old 900k+ only the Saints would. If Hunt gets an injury next season and it is a serious one, Saints will be stuck with him for 2025 as he will definitely not be wanted then by anyone. If Saints were to release Hunt and use his cash it would be this off season.

If Saints fire next year on the back of juniors, Saints will be able to go in the market and pick up anyone to fill the gaps like the Panthers do, unfortunately the wat the team is now they have no hope. Let's hope Flanno has an outstanding season and if so will be the best buy for the club in many years to come.
In hindsight - we f**ked up
Shudda refused the immediate release when requested and negotiated a release for 2024 whilst demand was hot. speaking with perfect 20-20 hindsight. of course, :(
Now he isn't worth squat in QLD compared to what we are paying.
Can't blame the club for that one.
 

Slippery Morris

First Grade
Messages
7,875
It is fair to say that during the Hook/Hunt years a lot of terrible decisions were made by the club. From recruitment, juniors, team selectins etc. It's like the board were blinded by this false hope. The double H's seemed to have more power than they should have had to run the show and the club had no back bone.
 

Illusion

Bench
Messages
3,252
Saints can easily afford Luai in 2025 by just offering him Hunt's money and releasing Hunt.

Problem is no club is stupid enough to offer a 34-35 year old 900k+ only the Saints would. If Hunt gets an injury next season and it is a serious one, Saints will be stuck with him for 2025 as he will definitely not be wanted then by anyone. If Saints were to release Hunt and use his cash it would be this off season.

If Saints fire next year on the back of juniors, Saints will be able to go in the market and pick up anyone to fill the gaps like the Panthers do, unfortunately the way the team is now they have no hope. Let's hope Flanno has an outstanding season and if so will be the best buy for the club in many years to come.
Whether or not Hunt stays ,( I hope he shuts the door on his way out ) ...... How can Flanno leave him Captain of a side that he wants out of ...... ? I can see this not going down ok with players ..... Strip him of the Captaincy before the season starts , IMO Flanno"s first mistake stop crawling up his crack ......
 

Slippery Morris

First Grade
Messages
7,875
The only reason I think Flanno has Hunt as capt (for now) is to help maybe lure some people to the club even though I don't see any reason why they would want to with his poor attitude but he is the best player at the club so may have some players interested to play along side him. Personally I think it is embarrassing having him as capt but Mark Taylor and Mark Coyne will knock some sense into him and hopefully make him realise how big a club this is that he is in.
 

Illusion

Bench
Messages
3,252
The only reason I think Flanno has Hunt as capt (for now) is to help maybe lure some people to the club even though I don't see any reason why they would want to with his poor attitude but he is the best player at the club so may have some players interested to play along side him. Personally I think it is embarrassing having him as capt but Mark Taylor and Mark Coyne will knock some sense into him and hopefully make him realise how big a club this is that he is in.
Not sure about knocking some sense into him , but when I was playing for the club , we would have knocked the crap out of him the way he has demoralized the club .......
 

possm

Coach
Messages
15,912
It is fair to say that during the Hook/Hunt years a lot of terrible decisions were made by the club. From recruitment, juniors, team selectins etc. It's like the board were blinded by this false hope. The double H's seemed to have more power than they should have had to run the show and the club had no back bone.
I'd shift the blame up the ladder to Peter Doust and Craig Young. Both are incompetent administrators who have made many mistakes and many bad deals for a long time. The sooner these two are extracted from the management system, the sooner we can move on and start running the club in a more orthodox manner.

A good start would be a question before each decision, 'is this in the best interest of the club?'
 

Dragon David

First Grade
Messages
9,243
Hunt on the news today saying he wants to put everything behind him and now he is backing Flanno, I reckon his manager has told him no other club is stupid enough to pay him what the Dragons are.
Hunt lost any appeal for his services from other clubs when he continued to whinge. If what he said on the news is fact and Hunt will back Flanno, I'm hoping that he will be agreeable to be the hooker for the club. It will be one less headache for Flanno if Hunt just concentrates on playing good footy for the Dragons. Amone is a different story though and I just cannot see him being at the Dragons in 2024.

Now we wait for some good news about recruitment.
 

Gareth67

First Grade
Messages
8,793
Hunt on the news today saying he wants to put everything behind him and now he is backing Flanno, I reckon his manager has told him no other club is stupid enough to pay him what the Dragons are.
Your more than likely right justadragon , the Dragons had a very narrow window in which to move him on , however as we know he is a big part of Flanagan’s plans .

We can only hope that he decides to play his best footy - whether that be at half or hooker . Put the past behind him and fully concentrate on earning that massive pay check .
 

OneEyedDragon

Juniors
Messages
1,546
Your more than likely right justadragon , the Dragons had a very narrow window in which to move him on , however as we know he is a big part of Flanagan’s plans .

We can only hope that he decides to play his best footy - whether that be at half or hooker . Put the past behind him and fully concentrate on earning that massive pay check .
Unfortunately I know how to hold a grudge! Ben Hunt could play like a genius in 2024 and win the Dally M award, but, to me, he will always now be a disgrace to the Dragons, even if he may have played the odd good game. Ben has burnt all his bridges I'm afraid.
 

Gareth67

First Grade
Messages
8,793
Unfortunately I know how to hold a grudge! Ben Hunt could play like a genius in 2024 and win the Dally M award, but, to me, he will always now be a disgrace to the Dragons, even if he may have played the odd good game. Ben has burnt all his bridges I'm afraid.
I understand how you feel O.E.Dragon , he has lost many fans due to his selfish display and also we know his heart is no longer at the Dragons.
 

SEAT 1A

Bench
Messages
3,362
Hunt on the news today saying he wants to put everything behind him and now he is backing Flanno, I reckon his manager has told him no other club is stupid enough to pay him what the Dragons are.

Well, that's gone the full circle. Would love to know what went belly up.

Regardless, the club stood firm and hopefully there may be some good news on the signing front.
 

Slippery Morris

First Grade
Messages
7,875
Looks like Benny got the hint that nobody in Qld is looking for a 33y.o half/hooker asking for 900k. At the start of the season he would have had so many Dragons supporters admiring him, now a majority would have the exact opposite feelings about him. His manager looks to have damaged his image deluxe with some stupid advice to go public looking for a release thinking Saints would just cave in and he would end up at the Broncos/Titans. Time to change management Benny boy.

Lets wait and see when he retires and writes a book on his life to see what he says about this period in huis life. It would be pretty interesting what is actually going on in the background without the stupid press.
 

Slippery Morris

First Grade
Messages
7,875
This was pleasing to see....Must be that talk Tubby had with the players about leadership. We really need this guy to be fully committed to have any success and it looks like he may have turned the corner.


‘There’s regrets’: Ben Hunt comes clean on Dragons contract standoff​

St George Illawarra Dragons halfback Ben Hunt has revealed he has some regrets over his contract standoff with the club.
The 33-year-old 312-game NRL veteran was in the headlines for all the wrong reasons in 2023.
The Dragons have been the NRL’s big underachievers over the past five years, missing the final every season, with 2023’s 16th place finish the worst in the current horror run.

In fact, since the club’s 2010 premiership, the Dragons have made the finals just three times (2011, 2015 and 2018).
Having joined the club in 2018, it means Hunt has made the finals just once in his time at the club.
And it all came to a head in 2023 when coach and close friend Anthony Griffin was fired, leading to Hunt to call for a release, just eight months after signing a contract extension until the end of the 2025 season.
Speaking to Nine News, Hunt admitted the pressure got too much.
“I probably made it known pretty loud last year that it was getting pretty frustrating,” Hunt said.
“There’s regrets about parts of it. In a way, I’m happy that some things came to a head but it definitely could have been handled better, that’s for sure. It’s been a long couple of years and it sort of compounded into a few little things that sort of ticked it off at the end.
“If I could take the time back, I would do it differently.”
The Dragons captain sparked a firestorm when he formally asked the club for a release after former coach Anthony Griffin was fired last May.

While former premiership winning coach Shane Flanagan was named the club’s new coach for 2024, it wasn’t enough to appease Hunt, who began angling for a release ahead of the second State of Origin clash.

But the Dragons stood firm, refusing to allow their marquee player leave despite his clear and publicly vocal displeasure at the club.

Hunt had signed an extension only eight months before the contract saga began.
Hunt declared at the time that he wanted to return to Queensland.

“I’d like to come home. That’s what we’d like to do. It’s for family reasons. There’s a whole lot more to it — other things — but that’s the main reason,” Hunt said.

But still the Dragons stood firm and Hunt eventually confirmed he’d stay at the club for the 2024 season.

However, it didn’t convince many as the belief was that he’d try and force an exit after the 2024 season as he chases a premiership.
Hunt has been saying all the right things ahead of the 2024 season so far.
Speaking with Fox Sports News, Hunt said he was pleased with the direction Flanagan was taking the team.

“The conversations I’ve had with him (Flanagan), [2024] is going to be a team built on hard work and discipline and competing right to the final whistle,” Hunt said.

“He believes over the past few years there have been a lot of guys who haven’t really fought for that extra inch and he wants to be a team who can grind teams out and really fight right to the death.

“We’ve got a lot of hard work to do to get to that point, but it’s exciting.”

One issue that may bubble away under the surface is that Flanagan has already told Dragons fans to temper expectations ahead of the new season, saying “our real focus will be 25-26”.
 

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