‘P**s poor sportsmanship’: Ben Hunt slammed after ‘unnecessary’ act

Dragons skipper Ben Hunt has raised more than a few eyebrows after a bizarre blow up that threatened to overshadow his brilliant masterclass.

The St George Illawarra Dragons have obliterated the Wests Tigers 56-14 in an absolute massacre at WIN Stadium in Wollongong.

Incredibly, the Tigers lead 14-12 at halftime but the second half was all one way traffic as the Dragons piled on seven unanswered points, including a personal milestone of 32 points for NSW Origin rep Zac Lomax.

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Leading 26-14 with 23 minutes remaining, Hunt backed up his Origin double, running to the right before cutting back on the inside and wrong-footing three Tigers players to score.

It was just the tip of the iceberg in a masterful performance that also included four try assists, a line break and a line break assist.

But despite scoring a great individual try, Hunt was far from happy as he got to his feet, throwing the ball down on Tigers second rower Samuela Fainu.

“And a little bit of nasty from Ben Hunt as he dumps the ball on the kid on debut,” Dan Ginnane said on Fox League.

“Tensions continue to boil here but it should be a try to the Dragons.”

Ben Hunt wasn't happy. Photo: Fox Sports

Cooper Cronk said it was "unnecessary". Photo: Fox Sports

Fainu wasn’t on debut for the record — the match was the 16th of his NRL career, having played five for the Sea Eagles in 2023 and his 11th match of the year for the Tigers.

Ultimately it was awarded a try but Cooper Cronk hit out at the move from the Dragons half.

“He’s a competitor and I don’t think he had to do this Ben Hunt, throw the ball down on Fainu,” Cronk said.

“Fainu comes over the top, he doesn’t like that maybe the swinging arm came down.

“Ben Hunt didn’t have to throw the ball down, Fainu doesn’t have to react. It’s unnecessary.”

Ginnane said Fainu’s action didn’t appear to be enough for an eight-point try as the referee awarded the four pointer.

Although Hunt was given a warning from the referee to pass onto his side about joining the melee, the try stood and the Dragons continued to run away with the victory.

The melee erupted after Hunt threw the ball. Photo: Fox Sports

Referee Butler had already warned the Dragons in the first half. Photo: Fox Sports

On Nine, Phil Gould pointed out the incident, with Andrew Johns replying: “There is no need for that. I haven’t seen Ben Hunt do anything like that.”

Gould added: “It doesn’t take much to set footballers off these days.”

But fans were fuming.

One called the action “p**s poor sportsmanship”, another said Hunt’s action showed “no class”, another said it was “gutless”, while a fourth claimed it was a “disgraceful act”.

However, it was just one spiteful moment among several, but it didn’t stop the Dragons from running riot, cracking 50 at WIN Stadium for the first time in seven years.

Incredibly, Lomax’s huge haul beat the previous club record for the joint venture, which was held by Amos Roberts (2000), Jamie Soward (2007), Gareth Widdop (three times — 2015, 2017, 2018) and Lomax (2021) at just 22 points, meaning he beat it by 10 points.