Incoming Dragons coach Shane Flanagan has declared Ben Hunt will stay on the Red V membership till the top of his contract if he can spark change on the struggling membership.
During the 2023 Origin sequence, the gun halfback dropped a bombshell and revealed he wished to depart the Dragons instantly.
The 33-year-old has a want to return to Queensland along with his household, however is at the moment contracted till the top of 2025 after signing an extension in October 2022.
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Hunt instructed The Daily Telegraph he has “had to accept” his Dragons destiny, and even went so far as saying he partially regrets placing pen to paper on his freshest contract.
He additionally defined he must see main modifications on the Red V membership to stay till the top of his contract.
Flanagan, who has been tasked with rebuilding the Dragons after Anthony Griffin’s tenure, revealed he’s assured he can persuade Hunt to remain.
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“You can read his comments in a lot of different ways, but he did confirm that he is at the Dragons next year,” Flanagan stated to the SMH.
“All the conversations I’ve had with him are about that. It’s all been positive and about what needs to change. He wants to win. He’s a competitor, and I’m the same, we’re in the same boat.
“If we achieve what I think we can do, he won’t want to go anywhere. That’s my attitude to the whole thing.
“Ben’s biggest problem is we haven’t been winning footy games. A club came in and offered him a lot of money to go elsewhere and we would all think about that.”
While Flanagan stays assured he can change Hunt’s thoughts, The Daily Telegraph’s David Riccio isn’t so certain.
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“He is on contract for 2025 but my belief is that he will not be there. We will get another 12 months out of him,” Riccio stated on SEN.
“In that time, Saints need to find some new leaders because whenever (Hunt) was out, they turned to Jack De Belin which will always be polarising and Blake Lawrie.
“The leadership void is an issue for (incoming coach) Shane Flanagan.”
Questions have additionally been raised surrounding Hunt’s captaincy after making it abundantly clear he needs to depart the membership.
He beforehand admitted he would relinquish the armband, however Flanagan stated he was “comfortable” with Hunt as captain.
Source web site: www.foxsports.com.au
