Beautiful unpredictability has Dragons still in the hunt

St George Illawarra’s Ben Hunt looks on after a Bulldogs try at Kogarah last Sunday. Picture: Brett Costello.

Hopeless. Helpless. Done. Dusted. Lame. Laughable. Out of the reckoning. Out of the (Ben) Hunt. Out of puff, the magic Dragons. Finals fodder. The Red V? The vitriol that will accompany the most ­incurably out-of-form side in the NRL being kicked to the kerb in the first week of the playoffs.

But in assuming their imminent demise, we’re overlooking the very thing that makes sport, glorious sport, more entertaining, unpredictable and dramatic than Act V, Scene II of Hamlet.

The useless buggers. They’ve lost four of their past five. Six of their past eight. Remember when Craig Bellamy called them the benchmark? Hilarious. They’ve bludged a mere 54 points in attack in the past five weeks. They’ve conceded 142 points while displaying more holes than Wollongong Golf Club. The only result more embarrassing than their 40-4 ­defeat to wooden spooners Parramatta was the 38-0 thumping from the Bulldogs on a day they should have been inspired up to their eyeballs by memories of their late mate, Lance Thompson. Sunday’s shockingly bad capitulation was no way to pay tribute to the old red-headed tackling machine. And yet the show rolls on with a 0-0 scoreline against Newcastle on Saturday. And then another clean slate in a finals appearance they barely deserve, but will receive anyway.

Hunt is killing the Dragons, killing them softly. The complete absence of confidence. No derring-do. The puppeteer controls nothing if his hands are trembling. If the No 7 doesn’t back himself, how are the rest of the Dragons meant to have faith in him? He looks like Sam Stosur at 4-4 in the third set on Rod Laver Arena. There’s the expectation that everything will go bad again. So everything goes bad again. Halfbacks and wicketkeepers set the tone for their sides. They strut and bark and cajole and roll the dice. They’re bulletproof and fearless, but Hunt is playing scared. He seems a sensitive soul, which is problematic given the industry he’s in, and the number and target on his back. But he needs a swift kick up the backside. Or a stiff drink before kick-off.

Whatever works.

“I love Benny Hunt so I’ll back him to the hilt,” Dragons forward Tariq Sims says. “Obviously as the backrower on his edge I didn’t do my job on the weekend so to be honest, I’m pretty dirty on myself. It comes down to us as a pack and a team. We need to control the ball a lot more. Get to the end of our sets well and lay a better platform for him to play off the back of.”

Hunt is earning a million bucks a year. He’s not earning his keep, clunking along like a high-priced sports car with a flat tyre. His Dragons teammates say he shouldn’t be singled out for criticism because he’s not the only one having weekly shockers. We’ve all been just as bloody useless, they say. It’s not much of a mindset to be taking into the finals.

“I suppose when you get paid big dollars and you’re the new ­recruit, a lot of expectations come,” Jack De Belin says of Hunt. “It’s hard when you’re the halfback and the focal point of the side. When you’re not performing, you cop a lot of criticism. But I feel like he’s done a great job for us. He’s in the same boat as me and half the side in that we’re not playing our best.”

Exhausted. Embarrassing. Inept. Irredeemable. Unworthy. Cringeworthy. But facing the Knights on Old Boys’ Day in Newcastle, which is one of the more stirring occasions in the NRL, is potentially a turning point for the Dragons and Hunt. There will be emotion and atmosphere at the Knights’ home ground. and very beatable opponents. It’s the sort of match a million-dollar halfback can manipulate to his liking, if he’s worth his price tag. It’s quite the opportunity. When you’re looking oh-so-weak and fragile, when you’re on your hands and knees as a club.

The Dragons can still enter the finals off the back of a win. And then? You never know. Gareth Widdop will return for the playoffs. They’ll have blokes with big-game experience from Origin this year. The very essence of sport has to be ­remembered here. There’s always, always hope. In 2016, the Sharks lost four of their last five regular-season matches. They won the comp. Last year, the Cowboys lost five of their last six and reached the grand final. You can click into gear faster than you’ve fallen out of it.

Who’ll win the comp? The Storm are the favourites. But the Sharks beat the Storm. Which makes the Sharks the favourites. But the Sharks lost to the Broncos. Which makes the Broncos a benchmark. But the Broncos lost to the Warriors. Which means the Warriors are in the frame. But the Warriors lost to the Panthers. Which makes the Panthers a threat. But the Panthers lost to the Roosters. Which puts the Roosters in the market. But the Roosters lost to the Dragons. Which means somewhere deep inside the Dragons is the capability. But the Dragons lost to Souths. Which makes it simple to nominate the best team in the premiership. It’s Canberra.