‘Get on with it’: Matty Johns says Dragons should look at deals for Hunt now after latest loss

Matthew Johns has declared enough is enough at the Dragons - calling for the club to finally fix a situation that just keeps getting worse.

Matthew Johns (R) has urged the Dragons to move on from Hunt. Pic: Getty

The Dragons have been urged to immediately ‘get compensation’ for Ben Hunt as the St George captain admitted his side was ‘getting worse’ after Thursday night’s heavy defeat to the Sharks.

The St George Illawarra board denied Hunt’s request for a release but the drama drowned the club in headlines for 10 days before they dished up their historic 52-16 loss on Thursday night.

Hunt was once again quiet in his second game since the bombshell release request, with the Dragons conceding 100 points to the Sharks and Warriors in that two-match span.

“Not good enough really … Where do we go from here? It seems like we’re getting worse,” Hunt said on ABC Radio.

“We can’t keep going down this path.”

The on-field performances would tell you the Hunt conundrum has been a distraction for the players, which Dragons interim coach Ryan Carr disagrees with, saying the club has “moved on from it.”

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Matty Johns believes it “has become a big distraction for the playing group” and has urged the Dragons brass to now take advantage of Hunt’s desire for a change of scenery.

Matthew Johns (R) has urged the Dragons to move on from Hunt. Pic: Getty

“The formula ain’t working and it ain’t working now. I think it’s a wasted opportunity to keep him there. You can get leverage, you can get compensation, you can lever for a trade in your favour,” Johns said on The Late Show with Matty Johns.

“I just think at the moment it’s time to start to look for another formula because this is not working and it’s nothing but a distraction.”

Johns pointed out that the Dragons made the finals in 2018, Hunt’s first season at the club, but since, the Red V hasn’t finished any better than 10th with another losing campaign extremely likely in 2023.

“There are clubs out there that will be desperate for him and that is in the Dragons’ favour,” Johns said.

“Not just compensation but they can lever for a trade. You can get a player over there (from another team) and say well we’ll let him go (Hunt) but you have that $450,000 player, we want him for $200,000 if you want Ben Hunt that bad. This is what they are missing out on.

“I come back to the fact that Ben Hunt has been their best player but they are in the midst of another losing season. Just get on with it, change the formula because it ain’t working.”

The veteran halfback recorded just one run and was virtually unsighted as the battling Dragons were belted in a horror show local derby.

The Dragons should be applauded for not granting him an immediate release, but there’s a real chance that things will only get worse as the year goes on if the wantaway playmaker is forced to play for a club he doesn’t want to be a part of anymore.

“We’ve moved on from it,” Carr said.

“He’s here with us and he’s part of our team, and he’s going to be doing that for the rest of the year. That’s all we can focus on.

“It’s got nothing to do with Ben and his off-field stuff. It’s got everything to do with all of us involved with the club, and it’s going to take all of us to fight our way out of it.

Ben Hunt of the Dragons looks dejected during the round 18 NRL match between Cronulla Sharks and St George Illawarra Dragons on Thursday. Getty

“We don’t even talk about it at training. We’ve got a group that has each other’s back and we’re not going to allow things like that to be excuses.

“Excuses are everywhere around you and you can find as many as you want, but it’s up to us to not look for them and to look in the mirror and find the answers within ourselves.”

Veteran forward Jack de Belin ripped his side’s performance and lack of resilience.

“I’m bitterly disappointed and embarrassed. Especially after last week, we had a real point to prove to come out to do a good job,” De Belin said post game on Channel 9.

“We did start well but we knew if we gave them too much good ball, they have too much strike power, too good an attack.

“It’s super embarrassing.

“We haven’t got a lot of resilience. If things don’t go our way, we drop our heads and look to blame others.

“It’s frustrating considering we are in the game and then when something goes against us we pretty much drop our bundle and get a 50-burger (50 points) put on us.”

De Belin tried hard all night, recording 44 tackles, but his captain was mostly ineffective.

Hunt was the only player used in the first half not to run the ball in the opening 40 minutes, and things only got worse after that when the Dragons skipper failed to find touch with a penalty kick.

“That was a big error from myself,” Hunt said.

“(My future) hasn’t really been spoken about at the club. We had a good week at training and a good week in the meetings and no one had been talking about it.”

The 33-year-old finished the night with five running metres and an offload that ended up with Tyrell Sloan running almost the length of the field for his side’s only try after halftime.

Hunt has committed himself to the club for the remainder of the season but still isn’t expected to see out his contract which runs until the end of 2025.

The veteran playmaker wants to return home to Queensland and has been linked with a move to the Titans.

Originally published as ‘Get on with it’: Matty Johns says Dragons should look at deals for Hunt now after latest loss