'In the works for a long time': Shock theory emerges amid Hunt's ...

The seeds for Ben Hunt’s shock switch to the Broncos may have been sewn when Kevin Walters attended his 300th game celebrations amid the fallout from his shock release bid.

Brent Read revealed on Triple M that Hunt has likely played the last of his 116 games for the Dragons, with a stop at the Broncos for the remainder of 2023, before finishing his career on the Gold Coast the most likely outcome.

“It feels like he has played his last game there and it looks like the plan is for Ben Hunt to go to the Broncos for the rest of this year,” Read said on Triple M.

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“They have got cap room and they can fit him. He will play hooker because they have got Adam Reynolds and Ezra Mam in the halves.

“Then he will go to the Titans at the start of next year for the next two years.

“Obviously this is contingent on him getting a release from the Dragons and I would imagine the Dragons will want some form of compensation in return be it a player or money or a combination of both.

“But it seems as though Ben Hunt has his heart set on leaving and the Broncos gives him his best chance of winning a premiership right now, so it makes a lot of sense.

“Given Ben’s stance on the whole thing and public comments that he has made I would be surprised if it doesn’t happen.”

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Ben Hunt is set to join the Broncos before linking with the Titans.Source: Supplied

Dragons tragic Tony Squires was still coming to terms with the shock developments as he joked about the move to the Broncos.

“It just seems so terrific doesn’t it, a bloke that is holding up the team that is on the bottom of the ladder going to the team at the top of the ladder,” Squires said.

“It is a good outcome for Ben,” Read joked.

Ryan Girdler believes the Broncos are a leading contender for the title if they land Hunt for the rest of 2023.

“It just puts the Broncos in the box seat on the back of the addition of Ben Hunt,” Girdler said.

“They have got some quality players around that area of the field as well. We have seen Walters go really well and Paix has been doing a decent job.

“But he has been a bit on the outer with Smoothy coming in.

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Broncos coach Kevin Walters denies talking to Ben Hunt.Source: News Corp Australia

“You would probably keep Walters in with two dummyhalf's, but to add someone of the quality of Ben Hunt, who is looking for a premiership for the back end of the season in a roster like that, it makes them hard to beat.”

Ben Teo agreed that Hunt’s signing could take the Broncos over the top and believes the origin of the shock signing could have began back in May when Hunt played his 300th game, which Walters flew up for to celebrate a dinner for the milestone man.

“I already had them as going to the grand final,” Teo said.

“They have got the team for it and if you looked at their side, no offence to Billy Walters, but you looked at that hooker spot and you thought that’s where they could improve.

“To go and get the State of Origin hooker. Ben Hunt if he gets that deal done to do one year at the Broncos and two years down on the Gold Coast he is landing on his feet.

“But it is done down there. You can just tell from his language. He said, I am keen to get it sorted out and we will get to the end of it.

“He is already thinking this is the end. They asked him if he would change his mind and he replied, honestly I’m not sure mate. But he knows.

Walters and Hunt have a long history.Source: AAP

“I think that picture of Kevvie Walters up in Townsville for his 300th game, maybe the seeds have been planted a long time ago about this. Maybe this has been in the works for a long time.

“Kevvie’s a smart guy. He would have seen that opportunity. He would have known about Ben Hunt’s feelings and he made sure he was on that plane to be there and show, I love you brother and I’m here for you.”

Squires believes Walters should not have been able to lure Hunt with two and a half years remaining on his contract.

“This is a bloke who is signed for two more years,” Squires said.

“You can’t be doing that.”

Read agreed that Dragons fans have a right to feel disgruntled.

“He is on big money and he had the opportunity to leave at the end of last year,” Read said.

“Gus Gould was baiting him last year and he decided to stay at the Dragons and sign that extension.

“If I am a Dragons fan I would be really disappointed because he is your best player and he is your captain and this has been played out so publicly.”

However Ryan Girdler pointed out the Dragons haven’t had success with Hunt and it could be a good opportunity to reset and balance their roster.

“But you also need to think that he has been there for five or six years,” Girdler said.

“He is the highest paid player. He has made it really hard for them to recruit and bring other talented players into the roster.

“And they haven’t had any success, so maybe it is time that he moved on.

“They have free’d up some funds and they have a new coach coming in and they have got a couple of young guys coming through.

“I’m not saying Ben Hunt has been getting in the way but maybe the Dragons need to look at it. There is an opportunity there to go in a different direction.”

Teo agreed that a divorce is the only outcome for Hunt and the Dragons.

“I think they need the divorce and I think it benefits both parties,” Teo said.

“I think he’s frustrated in how things have gone down, he’s frustrated with management.

“They’ve tried everything to make it work but it hasn’t. They’ve been to marriage counselling and it’s time to finish it off.”

However, Read believes the Dragons deserve compensation in the form of money or a player swap or both.

“The Dragons have got to at least walk away from this with the perception they’ve had a win of some kind,” Read said.

“Where do they get the win from? That is a bit of a dilemma – I’d imagine maybe a combination of both. Maybe they get some money or maybe a player out of Brisbane, and then they get a more high-profile player from the Gold Coast.”

The developments are interesting given the Broncos were frustrated they were sent a please explain by the NRL over any correspondence with Hunt.

“They sent one to Brisbane,” Read said.

“Dave Donaghy the CEO, I spoke to him yesterday and he was furious they sent it to him, saying ‘We haven’t spoken to Ben Hunt’.

“He could argue we were planning to talk to them on Saturday or Sunday and the email was sent Thursday from the salary cap auditor to the three south-east Queensland clubs.

“The Dolphins got one as well, and they’ve said they have got no interest in Ben Hunt. I think they were a bit taken aback by it.

“I imagine it went to Canterbury as well, they’ve been pretty prominently linked with Ben Hunt.

“It was just the salary cap auditor saying ‘we want all your notes and negotiation around this, we want to see them’.”

Teo believes the Dolphins’ assertion they are not interested in Hunt may be Wayne Bennett just playing the media.

“They said that they weren’t interested, but I’m not too sure, maybe there’s some stuff going on in the background,” Teo said.

“He’d be a great guy to come in. So much experience, young Katoa (could benefit), Wayne’s worked with him before.

“But it seems like, looking from the outside in, that both the Broncos and Ben have their heart set on this.”

It begs the question why can’t Hunt finish his career at the Broncos, but Read believes Brisbane need to have money up their sleeve to keep a number of key stars.

“I’d imagine it’s because Ben doesn’t want to play hooker,” Read said.

“And they’ve got a decent halfback in Adam Reynolds who they’re trying to extend at the moment.

“They’ve got young Ezra Mam who’s killing it at six and they want to extend him as well.

“I’d imagine it’s purely because Ben doesn’t want to play hooker for the rest of his career and he can go to the Gold Coast and he can play in the halves.

“The other thing with Benny Hunt is there’s a financial consideration at the Broncos.

“Payne Haas is off contract in a year’s time and he’s going to demand a significant salary cap rise. Ezra Mam needs more money.

“Reece Walsh is on a relatively small contract compared to who he is. They’ve got to keep some money aside. If you’re going to give $900,000 a season to Ben Hunt, something’s gotta give.”

However, Squires believes the Dragons should wait to work out a deal that is in their best interests and not rush to offload Hunt.

“The thing is though, St George Illawarra – they need something... they also need the time and the space to work out what that something is,” Squires said.

“If Shane Flanagan is coming in, if he’s talking to Ben Hunt on Monday, he’s going to then think: ‘we can’t just lose you right now.

“You stay until we have worked this stuff out, until we know who is coming, until we know what our win is in this situation.”

“They’ve got to August 7. That’s when the window closes.,” Read interjected.

Teo implored the Dragons to hold firm and wait possibly until the end of the season to get a deal that suits them.

“The ball is in their court, I would hold out,” Teo said.

The thing with Benny, like you just said, the Dragons have got to hold out until they get what they want, and what they want is maybe not around tight now.

“I think they should just hold out. Because one thing I know about Ben Hunt is yeah he might be unhappy and yeah he might want to move, but if you just dig your heals in and say, ‘Mate, we need you to stick around for the rest of the season because none of these deals are going to work out for us,’ I guarantee you put him out on the field, maybe not last night, but he’ll start playing well.

“He’s got enough pride about himself that he’ll play well, he can finish off the season. If I’m Dragons I’m holding out.”

Squires commended Hunt for fronting up for the Dragons against the Warriors, despite the conjecture over his future.

“He’s an absolute pro,” Squires said.

“I was really glad at Wollongong last night there wasn’t the booing that was talked about when he came out.

“He is that kind of football pro. He arrived at five o’clock when they were supposed to arrive at 6.15, he gets himself ready after playing Origin on Wednesday night. He’s one of those guys who will do the job.”

However, Read questioned if the Dragons can afford to have a player on their books who doesn’t want to be there.

“What do you do though if he digs his heels in and says, ‘I want to go,’ and you say, ‘No you’re not going,’ and he goes, ‘Well, I’m not playing.’ Do you just sit him on the sidelines and not play him? … What if he decides to basically protest Gorden Tallis style for the rest of the year?” Read said.

“Ah well, dock his pay,” Teo said.

“Yeah, but there’s going to be some sort of negotiation … it won’t come to that,” Read said.

Girdler agreed that Shane Flanagan needs time to deal with the Hunt situation.

“I think Shane Flanagan, he’s been in these sort of situations before, he’s been able to rebuild a roster,” Girdler said.

“I’m sure he’s probably skimming through a couple of different rosters now from other clubs that are potential going to be Ben Hunt suitors and looking at players that could help his club. What does he need?

“That’s what they need to get out of it, the Dragons, whether it’s right now, whether it’s the end of the year.

“For Shane Flanagan, who’s really well equipped to handle this situation, he just needs to get his compensation, dust off the boys, probably spend a little more time down there.

“He’s obviously still got his fingers in the pie at Manly, but I’m sure he’s making a lot of calls and he’s working his magic in the background.

“He’ll have a plan, they just need to stick with it, stay together and execute it.”

Squires noted Jason Ryles will be glad he didn’t take the Dragons coaching job.

“Jason Ryles’ got a big smile on his face at the moment,” Squires said.

“Didn’t he dodge a bullet?” Read interjected.

Read clarified the NRL rules on talking to players under contract, but admitted it was a grey area.

“With that negotiation stuff though, apparently you guys were telling me it’s OK as long as they don’t induce them to break a contract,” Squires asked.

“He has a contract at the moment until the end of 2025, so any club can talk to him about 2026, but they cannot talk to Ben Hunt about him coming to their club next year,” Read explained.

“You’re not allowed to do that, you can’t make offers, talk money – because that would be inducing him to break his contract, which you’re not allowed to do.

“But that’s the silliness, right? The NRL comes to them and says, ‘Tell us what you’re talking to Hunt about?’

“And they go, ‘2026,’ oh nothing to see here, OK. We believe you. Just check the honest notes that I’ve been taking.”