The St George Illawarra Dragons have reportedly shortlisted five players as options to replace the departed Ben Hunt in the halves for the 2025 NRL season.

After seven seasons and 147 matches for the Dragons, Hunt's time at the club was confirmed at the backend of last month and he was released from the final season of his contract.

His departure means that the Dragons will need to prepare for life without him and will produce a new halves combination next season and beyond as they aim to reach theย NRLย Finals series once again.

According toย The Daily Telegraph, the Dragons have already shortlisted Super League duo Bevan French and Brodie Croft, Cronulla Sharks youngster Daniel Atkinson, Rabbitohs halfback Lachlan Ilias and Wests Tigers utility back Adam Doueihi as potential replacements for Hunt.

RELATED >> Top ten realistic options to replace Ben Hunt in 2025

Last playing in the NRL in 2021 with the Brisbane Broncos and Melbourne Storm, Croft has taken his game to new heights overseas with the Salford Red Devils and Leeds Rhinos winning the Man of Steel Award.

French, a former member of the Parramatta Eels, has also won the Man of Steel Award doing it in 2023 and backed his career-best season with man of the match honours in the Super League Grand Final and Challenge Cup for the Wigan Warriors - this made him the first ever player to achieve this.

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - MARCH 30: Brodie Croft of the Storm passes the ball to a team mate during the round four NRL match between the Cronulla Sharks and the Melbourne Storm at Southern Cross Group Stadium on March 30, 2018 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Brendon Thorne/Getty Images)

Shane Flanagan confirmed to the publication that he will meet with assistant coach Dean Young on Wednesday to discuss possible options as to who will join Kyle Flanagan in the halves as the club prepares for pre-season training.

โ€œWe just want to get all our options, our potential sixes and sevens, lined up on the table. We will meet on Wednesday as a club and see what is best for us,โ€ Flanagan said.

โ€œWe're working out who to put on our list. That's it at this stage. We will take a breath and see what's out there and assess it once we have all the information.

โ€œThere are many players we could potentially look at. We also have to work out whether we hold our fire and go for 2026.

โ€œI wouldn't say anyone is in front of anyone else but I just needed to work out who we could look at or do we go with what we have for 2025. We might scratch some players off straight away. I'm not saying they're in or out.โ€

1 COMMENT

  1. Croft has several years left on his (reportedly) lucrative contract he signed with Leeds at the beginning of season 2024. French is on big money at Wigan. Wigan won a four-peat this year, so I can’t see him wanting to leave. That’s another way of saying that I don’t see either of these halves as being the answer to the question of who can replace Ben Hunt at STG for 2025

    I think Saint George will need to first decide on who they want for the long-term (2026 onwards) then – assuming they cannot prise him free this year, through a release or a loan – they will have to find a stand-in for 2025.

    If I were at STG, I’d see if they can get either Atkinson or Niwhai Puru from the Sharks/Newtown Jets on a loan. Puru was excellent in NSW Cup last year, but is stuck behind Trindall, Hynes and Atkinson at Cronulla. Both are available as permanent signings for 2026 onwards.

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