Canterbury Bulldogs GM of Football Phil Gould, has revealed for the first time and provided reasons behind why the club decided to pull out of the race for Ben Hunt before he decided to return to Red Hill.
After it was confirmed that Hunt's time at the St George Illawarra Dragons had come to a close after seven seasons and 147 matches, he caught the interest of several rival clubs including The Dolphins, Sydney Roosters, Canterbury Bulldogs and Brisbane Broncos (the team he ended up signing with).
At the time, it was heavily reported that the Bulldogs were the frontrunners for his signature and it looked as if they were about to make another big signing following the arrival of Penrith trio Stephen Crichton, Matt Burton and Viliame Kikau in recent years.
However, it was not to be, and Hunt decided to return to the Brisbane Broncos.
Speaking on his Six Tackles with Gus podcast, Canterbury Bulldogs GM of Football Phil Gould revealed the reasons why he decided against pursuing the veteran's services despite being named as the frontrunner for his services for an extended period of time.
Although he admits that Hunt is a great player and person, he has faith in their current halves pairing of Matt Burton and Toby Sexton and decided to stick with them instead of bringing in a new playmaker.
He also believes that Hunt wouldn't be needed due to their great class of halves stocks coming through the ranks, including Cassius Tia, Joseph O'Neill and Mitchell Woods.
"Those approaches sort of came from Ben's management," Gould said.
"[They were] looking at options for him because he was living in Sydney and had young kids starting school. It was probably easier for him to spend more time in Sydney.
"He was obviously looking to get out of the Dragons and I think he spoke to the Roosters and a few other clubs.
"But with where Ben was at in his career and where we were, we just decided that we'd stick with what we have. Ben's a really good player and we really liked him as a bloke.
"Toby Sexton is our halfback at the moment and we're backing Toby to develop - he is still only 24 years of age and he did a terrific job for us last year.
"We've got young halves in Cassius Tia, Mitch Woods and Joey O'Neill. We're hoping that they emerge over the next two or three seasons, but we're not gonna rush them."
