St George Illawarra Dragons interim coach has revealed the decision to recall Zac Lomax and Jacob Liddle was made well before Anthony Griffin departed the club.
In his first media commitment as the club's new head coach, Carr also confirmed Ben Hunt had been signed to play halfback, and that's exactly where he will line up on Friday evening against the Sydney Roosters at Kogarah.
Carr said the call to bring Lomax and Liddle back into the side wasn't a backflip.
"Obviously team selection gets spoken about well before what happened on Tuesday. These were discussions that we had straight after the game when we played the Cowboys up there in Townsville," Carr said after the Dragons' captain's run on Thursday.
"We had sort of been planning to bring them back in this week regardless. It's not a whole backflip on everything, but at the end of the day, we are putting out the 17 players we feel can do the job for the club and the team, and then next week, we will see what happens."
He added that he and the coaching staff were always involved in discussions around team selections with now sacked head coach Anthony Griffin, with the club electing to part ways with the under siege boss on Tuesday morning.
Carr said the attitude of Lomax and Liddle was key in their recalls to first grade.
"We always had really open and honest discussions as a coaching staff. We always put our thoughts forward and what we thought was best for the team, so these guys have been in the mix all along. We are pretty blessed with a real deep squad at the moment, we are really healthy, there isn't a lot of injuries. Those two boys have done a really good job and had a great attitude in going back to Cup, and played really well on the weekend," Carr said.
"That's the message we are trying to send here. You play well and you're in the team."
Quizzed over Hunt's role after he spent time at dummy half over the last fortnight, the interim coach said he had been signed to play at halfback, and that's where he would run out against the Roosters.
That came after the decision was made on Tuesday to axe Moses Mbye to reserve grade, with Hunt to play in the seven, Jacob Liddle at nine, and Jayden Sullivan to play as a back-up to both players off the bench.
Carr didn't rule out discussions around Hunt's role in future weeks though.
| Fullback |
| Wing |
| Centre |
| Centre |
| Wing |
| Five-eighth |
| Halfback |
| Prop |
| Hooker |
| Prop |
| Second Row |
| Second Row |
| Lock |
| Interchange |
| Interchange |
| Interchange |
| Interchange |
| Reserves |
"He is a world-class nine and he is a world-class seven, so we are pretty blessed" Carr said on Hunt.
"The good thing about Ben is that he is a great leader, a great team person and he is 100 per cent selfless. He does whatever is best for the team and what we feel like we need.
"He is going to play halfback for us this week, because that's what he was signed for here to play at the club. What the future holds, I don't know.
"We have an Origin period coming up, so we have got to figure a few things out as a team ourselves.
"What I love about Ben is that he wears his heart on his sleeve, he gives it his all and he doesn't care where he plays or what he has to do for the team, he always does it. That's the message and attitude we want from all the players to have - put the team first, it's not about you. It's bigger than that. It's about the club and the badge you're wearing on your chest."
Hunt's switch back to the number seven follows his own comments in the lead-up to his move to hooker that he would prefer to be playing in the seven.
The star Queensland and Australian representative's relationship with former coach Griffin was well-known, to the point Hunt put it on the record that he would consider leaving the club if Griffin was sacked.
Hunt has been linked to the Canterbury Bulldogs this week, but Carr said he won't be going anywhere.
"A hundred per cent. I have a really good relationship with Ben. He is a hundred per cent committed to the Dragons, he is on contract, and you can see how he plays that he isn't going anywhere," Carr said, squashing any link of him leaving the club.
Kick-off between the Dragons and Roosters is set for 6pm (AEST).
