FRIDAY’S clash between Brisbane and St George Illawarra presents an interesting scenario for Dragons fans.
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Despite their side’s season being firmly on the line, they will watch Ben Hunt, the man on whom their club have staked their future as long-term halfback, play against them… at hooker.
That’s if he doesn’t come off the bench from where he’s been second-fiddle to Sam Thaiday in recent weeks. On the surface it’s certainly cause for concern among the red v faithful.
Hunt is not an each-way bet for their club. They’ve gone all-in to the tune of $6 million (the club have disputed that figure but let’s all agree you wouldn’t get much change from it).
Certainly to justify the pay-cheque, and the expectation of Dragons fans, Hunt will need to be far more than handy, as he's been to the Broncos and Queensland this season.
His early season form was patchy at best and hampered by injury, prompting Wayne Bennett to dump him to reserve grade. In doing so, Bennett publicly anointed Kodi Nikorima as the club’s halfback for 2018 and beyond.
The Broncos have won all nine games in which Nikorima’s started at halfback. It’s clear that, when both are fit, Nikorima and Anthony Milford are Bennett’s first choice combination.
Hunt was, and is, at long odds to unseat either of them in the latter half of 2017. At one point, it looked as if the Dragons be picking up a player straight out of the Queensland Cup with his confidence at rock bottom.
That was before Andrew McCulloch suffered a season-ending injury. Plenty of people, Kick-off included, were willing to put a line through the Broncos the moment he went down.
Those calls now look premature, with the Broncos nipping at the heels of the daylight running second to Melbourne in premiership tipping. There’s also a silver lining in it for the Dragons.
There’s no doubt their fans would prefer to see Hunt in red-hot form, and in the No. 7 jumper. However, given the way his season was looking, surely what they’re seeing is a better alternative.
Now, he’ll be coming off an Origin series win – however minor his role – and what looks likely to be a deep run into the finals where he’s looming as the Broncos finals X factor.
Doing it the No. 9 also leaves him unburdened when it comes to organisational duties, something that appears to have re-tapped that well of form in recent weeks.
He will be anything but unburdened when he arrives at the Dragons. Let’s face it, the red and white army aren’t known for their conciliatory manner.
You only need to ask Jarryd Hayne about the pressure that comes with a million-dollar a season price tag. The Hayne saga on the Gold Coast shows that, if you’re going to make a player a million-dollar-man, you can’t afford to get it wrong.
You also only have to look at Raiders discard Paul Vaughan’s form for the Dragons this season to see how having a point to prove can bring out a player’s best.
They’re the two ways Hunt’s signing can go. The ball’s in his court.