NRL finals: Ben Hunt rediscovers his Dragons’ mojo against Broncos

Ben Hunt overcame two months of paralysing negativity to keep the Dragons alive in the finals.

Dragons half Ben Hunt steered his side to a comfortable win against his former club, Brisbane Broncos, at Suncorp Stadium. Picture: AAP

Ben Hunt trots onto Suncorp Stadium, wonders how many of his social media trolls are in the grandstands, remembers the days when Brisbane was home and Wayne Bennett was for him rather than against him, recalls the night Daly Cherry-Evans stole his Origin jumper right here on these very blades of grass, watches three invaluable teammates hit the deck from concussion and injury … and then overcomes two months of paralysing negativity to keep the St George Illawarra Dragons alive and kill the most successful coaching career of all.

The meek may inherit the earth but they won’t be winning the NRL grand final. (Neither will Bennett.)

Premiership-winning halves strut around like peacocks while cajoling, manipulating, agitating and grabbing sudden-death matches by the throat.

Exhibit A, James Maloney and Cooper Cronk.

Hunt’s regrettable performances in and since Origin have triggered the sort of form slump to make the Broncos glad to be rid of the allegedly dead duck, but as luck has it for the No 7, his finals campaign begins against the club, and the coach, who have shown him the door.

A staggering afternoon finishes with Tariq Sims pointing at a scoreboard that reads 48-18 to the Red V and Hunt, for the first time in a long time, looking comfortable in his own skin.

“It’s a really good feeling,” he tells Fox Sports after fulltime.

“I’ve been copping a bit of a hiding the last month or so and to come out tonight and really get into them, it was very satisfying. It’s a bit of a strange feeling, actually. I’ve got some great mates up here. It felt really good to get the win but to see their faces after the game, it is a pretty strange feeling.”

The Dragons lose James Graham, Jack De Belin and Gareth Widdop but hang tough for more than long enough. Widdop is the Dragons’ chief playmaker and relieves a world of pressure from Hunt but when his shoulder injury forces him off with 20 minutes to go, Hunt has to steer them home.

The impression?

If he drops a kick-off or grubber-kicks to the back fence on the last tackle to lose the match, he may be distressed enough to never play again.

When a first-half kick has indeed gone too long, the Broncos supporters in the 47,296-strong crowd have given him an almighty razzing.

He’s been at risk of becoming what no athlete wants to be — a complete laughing stock — but there’s one way for him to shut everyone up. Jag a win.

A neat ball from Hunt leads to a Sims try. Sharp work out of dummy-half leads to Sims’ second try.

When Sims crosses for the most unlikely hat-trick since ­England’s Matthew Hoggard took three-for in a Test against the West Indies, the Dragons are leading by 18 points at halftime and the crowd has been silenced like the Broncos are losing to the bye.

Minute-by-minute, Hunt and the Dragons inflict the ambush with surgical and ruthless precision.

Hunt and Bennett have broken up last year as a coach-player combination. The message from Bennett has been clear. It’s not us, it’s you. To take the advice of a 16th century poet, the best revenge for Hunt has been to live well. He’s emerged from a horror patch to have one of the best afternoons of his career. Now Bennett will be out the door at Red Hill. It’s not him, it’s the Broncos. He’s been instrumental in building and continuing the club’s dynasty and a 30-point-thrashing is no way to go, but out he goes.

With 15 minutes remaining, Hunt thumps a pressure-relieving kick that travels a mighty 70 metres. The Dragons need repeat sets and he’s providing them. It’s his most astute kicking performance since before his nightmares began. He drills a 40-20 that is a nail in Bennett’s coffin. He pulls down Corey Oates with a desperate diving tackle that produces an error. He walks away with something unseen for months. A strut. Just a hint of one.