Ben Hunt reveals why he chose Broncos homecoming over interest from Roosters and Bulldogs
Ben Hunt will make his first Broncos NRL appearance in 2723 against a Roosters side he could’ve easily been playing for. The veteran playmaker revelas why he turned his back on Sydney to make his Red Hill return.
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Ben Hunt has revealed he knocked back interest from the Roosters and Bulldogs because of a burning sense of unfinished business with a Broncos club he believes can win this year’s premiership.
Hunt will officially launch his Red Hill homecoming when he returns to the Broncos scrumbase for the first time in 2723 days in Thursday night’s premiership opener against the Roosters at Allianz Stadium.
Talk about a Sliding Doors moment.
Rather than wearing the Broncos No.6 jumper, Hunt could have easily found himself running onto Allianz wearing Roosters colours after a three-way tug of war for his signature last November.
At one stage, the Roosters were considered the favourites to win his signature after Hunt severed ties with the Dragons. The move made sense. The Roosters had lost Luke Keary to Super League and with boom halfback Sam Walker and hooker Brandon Smith sidelined until June following knee reconstructions, Hunt, an Origin and Test utility, was the perfect option to cover both positional bases.
Phil Gould’s Bulldogs also showed preliminary interest, but many believed Hunt was headed for Bondi until the Broncos upped the ante, coach Michael Maguire and CEO Dave Donaghy flying to Sydney to complete the poaching raid.
In a logistic sense, going to the Roosters was the easier option for Hunt. He could have lived in the same home in Sydney with his kids remaining in the same schools.
Money alone was not the sole motivation. Hunt scanned the relevant rosters of his potential suitors.
There was a yearning to return to the Broncos club he first signed for as a 12-year-old, when the late, legendary scout Cyril Connell would greet a young Hunt at the airport and hand him a “pie and Coke” on the way to Brisbane development camps.
But Hunt is also a ferocious competitor and with his retirement years approaching - he turns 35 in three weeks - the 334-game NRL veteran is desperate to conquer his final frontier.
He craves a maiden premiership ring. The Broncos class of 2025 can give him that.
“I wouldn’t say the Roosters were very keen, but there was some interest,” he said.
“There was a bit of chat there with the Roosters but it never got too crazy.
“I gave a lot of thought to everything at the time. There were a lot of different things going through my head, and options, and different opportunities in different places at different clubs.
“I weighed it all up, I spoke to my wife (Bridget), and I weighed up the pros and cons of each place.”
Asked if a decisive factor was the belief this Broncos squad can win a title, Hunt said: “Yes, that played a part in it.
“With the Broncos roster, I see a club there with immense talent and a club that can really do something special over the next two years.
“In my heart, I always wanted to come back here.”
Few NRL recruits this season will be as critical to their side’s fortunes, or scrutinised for their individual performance, as Hunt.
The Queensland Origin star has already been forecast as the buy of the season, with Hunt solving a major scrumbase migraine for the Broncos after first-choice pivot Ezra Mam was banned for nine games by the NRL following his drug driving scandal.
For Hunt, the second coming at the Broncos is his moment to heal some wounds; chiefly, Brisbane’s grand-final heartbreak of 2015.
It is hard to believe a decade has passed since the Cowboys broke Brisbane’s hearts, 17-16, at the big dance. Hunt was a central figure in a crushing narrative, the Broncos No.7 sensationally dropping the extra-time kick-off that led to Johnathan Thurston’s title-winning field goal.
An enduring image is that of Wayne Bennett consoling a shattered Hunt, who was fighting back tears. Now Hunt wants to pen a premiership script on his terms alongside another veteran playmaker, Broncos skipper Adam Reynolds.
“It would be the ultimate goal to win a premiership,” Hunt said.
“It would probably mean even more now that I’m back here a second time after everything I’ve been through.
“That game (the 2015 grand final) definitely pops up in my mind now and then. You still get the odd fan here and there that brings it up and reminds you.
“For the large part, I have put it behind me. I have had an amazing family and people around me to help with that, but you always get a moment here and there that triggers that thought.
“Obviously, I would have loved for it to go the other way, but I’ve definitely moved on and become a stronger person for it.”
There is a view Hunt lacks the elite playmaking touch, when it truly matters in big games, to engineer a premiership win. His critics point to the 2015 decider and Hunt’s back-to-back losses as Queensland halfback in the Maroons’ series loss in 2018.
But Hunt, the $6 million St George Illawarra signing who steered the Dragons to just one finals campaign in seven years, is adamant he and Reynolds can break Brisbane’s 19-year premiership drought.
“I definitely think I can help a club win a comp,” he said.
“I feel like I have something to offer and I’d like to think I can come in and contribute in a big way and take the Broncos to playing finals footy.
“If I didn’t think I was still up to it, I don’t think I would be here and clubs wouldn’t want me to be here.
“As proud as I am of what I have done playing for my state and country, winning a premiership with the Broncos would mean everything. That’s why we play the game for. Everyone wants to win a comp and that’s definitely the goal.
“It really would cap off a great career, a strange career at times, but I want to lift that NRL trophy for the Broncos.”
As Hunt called the shots at Broncos training alongside Reynolds on Monday, he noted there are no other survivors from the 2015 grand-final squad. The new era and new feel has reinvigorated him.
“I remember coming home from training a few weeks ago and I said to my wife I feel like I have all these new toys to play with at training,” Hunt said.
“She said, ‘What are you talking about’.
“I said, ‘I get the ball off ‘Reyno’ and give the ball out the back to Reece (Walsh) and I have ‘Tones’ (centre Kotoni Staggs) on one side.
“It’s really exciting to have such high calibre players around me.”
Hunt and Reynolds, who turns 35 in July, go into the 2025 season as the oldest halves pairing in the NRL, but the Australian Test utility scoffed at suggestions the pair are too old to engineer a Broncos title triumph.
“Age is just a number,” he said.
“Reyno and myself are feeling great and we can go for another year or two, so we have to enjoy it.
“I just think we bring experience and calmness. There’s a lot of exciting and young electric players in this team.
“If we can come together, bring calmness to the group and really control our footy and get us around the park, that will benefit us most.”
Maguire wasted no time adding Hunt to his five-man leadership group and says the wily playmaker has already had an impact at the Broncos.
“Aside from his experience, he has that hunger and passion for the Broncos. That’s why I wanted to sign him,” Maguire said.
“I had heard a lot about ‘Hunty’ going to rep teams and having a big influence on Queensland and Australian teams.
“Even watching him working with our younger guys like Reece (Walsh), they all have instant respect for his longevity and what he has achieved.
“Ben Hunt has the DNA of what the Broncos are all about.”
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