St George Illawarra Dragons skipper Ben Hunt's relationship with the club's bosses is reportedly untenable, and he wants out due to a series of broken promises.
News Corpย has reported that the arrival of incoming coach Shane Flanagan is unlikely to convince Hunt to remain at the club and that the cracks between the skipper and the Dragons will never be truly repaired.
This is due to the Origin representative losing faith in the club because of a series of broken promises.
It is understood that when the Dragons refused to sign off on a proposed mid-season transfer to the Broncos, it created more tensions between the club and captain.
One promise was that Hunt was assured that Anthony Griffin would lead the club as head coach and wouldn't be sacked during the 2023 season. A promise that was broken when Griffin was unceremoniously sacked.
Another happened 12 months earlier. The Red V club officials were set to begin an aggressive recruitment drive beginning with the coup of Vilaime Kikau.
However, playing with the Panthers at the time, Kikau was reportedly offered a contract offer worth less than what the parties had originally discussed and ended up joining the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs.
The deal collapsed because the Dragons gave Kikau's management a three-year deal worth $750,000 per season instead of the agreed-upon $800,000 a season.
โWhen I signed (a new deal), there was a lot going on,โ Hunt said in the wake of Game 2 or Origin, hinting he felt let down by the club.
โThey wanted to get me signed first to get it sorted out so they could start making recruitment decisions.
โIt's gone nowhere.
โI just thought once I signed there would be a snowball effect (of other recruits coming to the club) and a few things would happen, but it hasn't happened.โ
Although Ben Hunt may not be joining the Brisbane Broncos this season, a move to the Gold Coast Titans for next season remains a possibility and is likely to happen.
They should get what they can for him and piss him off.
Make him play NSW cup for the rest of the season, then release him next year. Should not be allowed to abandon the club and go to Broncos under any circumstance this year.
He’s alos a liar. Dragons refused to guarantee Hook would last for full year. It was always going to be a case of see how the season starts. If Hunt wanted Hook so much then maybe he should have started winning. Blaming the baord for their pathetic on filed performances is a joke. The board are a problem but ultimately the players did not deliver. Kikau would not have made one bit of difference under Hook. Hook is a joke and was punted from Broncos and Panthers for good reason. Hunt has now blown up the season entirely and Ryan Carr should punt him him to reserve grade.