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Ben Hunt is set to remain at St George Illawarra for the remainder of his NRL contract after the club turned down his request to leave during formal talks between the two parties.
In the wake of the Dragons’ coaching upheaval, with Shane Flanagan replacing the sacked Anthony Griffiin for the 2024 season, Hunt sought a move back to Queensland, likely with the Brisbane Broncos.
Hunt was set to join his former club in Brisbane for the remainder of the 2023 season to press for a premiership before taking up a big money deal with the Gold Coast Titans.
The Dragons had already formally denied his release request earlier in the month and met with him again to discuss the matter in Wollongong on Monday morning.
There, they confirmed Hunt would not be released from the final two-and-a-half years of the contract he signed last October.
St George Illawarra captain Ben Hunt is set to be denied a release from his contract and will remain at the Dragons
Hunt reportedly told the Dragons he wanted a release while in camp with the Queensland Maroons for State of Origin
Hunt previously played for the Broncos, pictured after losing the 2015 NRL grand final to the North Queensland Cowboys
The Dragons issued a statement on Monday confirming they were working with Hunt and anticipated that he would continue playing for the club.
‘The club listened to Ben’s concerns and is committed to working with him throughout the remainder of his playing contract as both Ben and the club share a common goal of winning football games and building a successful football club,’ Dragons CEO Ryan Webb said in the statement.
Ben Hunt said: ‘I appreciated the open and honest discussion and will continue to work alongside the club and now focus on our game against the Sharks this Thursday night.
It has been another horror season for the Dragons, currently sitting in last place on the NRL ladder after a 48-10 thumping at the hands of the New Zealand Warriors on Friday.
It comes after former Australian cricket captain Michael Clarke said the Dragons should refuse Hunt’s request to transfer to the Brisbane Broncos for the rest of the season.
‘In my opinion, I would hold him to .. if you sign a contract as a player — and this is how I play my sport — then I stay until my contract is over,’ he said on Big Sports Breakfast on Monday.
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Former Australian cricket captain and current media personality Michael Clarke said cricket players were forced to honour their contracts and NRL players like Hunt should as well
The contract dispute surrounding Ben Hunt has drawn comparisons to Gorden Tallis who was forced to sit out the 1996 season after signing with the Brisbane Broncos
Despite the Dragons sitting in last place on the NRL ladder, Hunt has been a strong and consistent performer this season
‘Once my contract is over then I can do whatever I want. But I’ve also said in the same breath a club can’t ask that from a player if the club is not going to do the same in return,’ Clarke continued.
‘If he’s going to go to Brisbane and stay there, fair enough. I don’t think it’s right that he should go to a club for the remainder of the season and then go to his final destination. I don’t like that.’
Clarke also rejected suggestions that releasing Hunt now would open up funds to build for next season, with new coach Shane Flanagan tied to the Manly Sea Eagles until the end of the season.
‘How is it an opportunity for Shane Flanagan when he’s got to stay at Manly right now for the rest of the season? Shane Flanagan is not at the Dragons,’ he said.
Fans have been left divided and disenchanted following the contract dispute and another year to forget at the Dragons
The contract stand-off is reminiscent of 1996 when a young Gorden Tallis was forced to sit out an entire season because of a contract dispute in the midst of the Super League and ARL war.
Tallis, 20, had decided to take the riches on offer at the Brisbane Broncos in Super League but his move was denied by the courts.
Instead of lining up for the Dragons, Tallis elected to train with the Broncos and sit out the entire season.
‘In hindsight, you think, ‘Gee whiz, you’re a young man giving it up, you’d never know if you were going to play in another grand final,’ Tallis said in 2018.
‘Everyone thinks I got paid that season. That’s another myth. But no one’s going to pay you for not working. I didn’t get paid that year; a 20-year-old giving up half a million dollars.
‘But all those things I didn’t think of. My decision wasn’t about money. It was about the vision that Super League had to grow the game and have better conditions for the players.’
