Devastated Ben Hunt’s face says it all as coach’s fate hangs by thread

If Dragons coach Anthony Griffin’s players were out playing for his coaching career, the St George Illawarra mentor’s time is almost up.

You can never say Ben Hunt doesn't care. Photo: Fox Sports

Ben Hunt has blamed himself after the Dragons fell just short of sending its clash against the Raiders to extra-time.

Canberra claimed a 20-14 win in the nation’s capital but a match that struggled to rise to any heights except for the closeness of the scoreline ignited in the final 10 minutes.

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The Raiders’ Hudson Young ran 80m after a one-on-one strip, showing great speed to race away to make it a 10-point ball-game.

But rather than let the game limp to an inevitable conclusion, the Dragons scored with three minutes left after Tautau Moga claimed an intercept to bring it back to 20-14.

A knock on at the end of the next set gave the Dragons a scrum 10m out from the Raiders’ line with 30 seconds left.

Young was sin binned after holding down in a tackle, leaving two tackles remaining for the Dragons with a man advantage.

But on the final play, instead of going through the hands, Hunt went a short ball to Josh Kerr, who was swamped by Raiders players to seal the win.

You can never say Ben Hunt doesn't care. Photo: Fox Sports

Hunt was heartbroken at full-time.

“It’s a tough one,” Hunt said on Fox League. "We had our fair share of possession in that second half but our attack just wasn’t good enough to be honest. We knew Canberra would scramble really well but we just didn’t execute.

“I was pretty disappointed in myself with that last play to be honest. I should have gone out the back rather than hit Josh Kerr.”

It was a tough afternoon for the Dragons who have not been able to shift the narrative around head coach Anthony Griffin, who has had to reapply for his job and is widely believed to be being bled to death by 1000 cuts.

Hunt tried hard and run 154m himself but was not able to provide any line break or try assists.

It’d be a disappointing effort considering he once again voiced his support for Griffin during the week, saying he would “reassess” his future if the coach was changed.

“(Griffin) has been here for a couple of years now and we are building in a direction I believe is the right direction,” he told reporters.

“I believe if you take away your coach and bring a new coach in, it’s going to start that cycle again and to be honest I don’t have the time to start it all again.”

Another week, more Anthony Griffin speculation. Photo: NRL

But if this performance had any sway in keeping Griffin in the job, it’s unlikely to have moved the needle at all in the lacklustre contest.

Griffin said the Dragons just weren’t good enough.

“We completed 60-odd per cent and didn’t take our chances when we needed to and that first 20 minutes of the second half, the way they scored their two tries, went against the defensive effort we showed all day,” he said.