Ben Hunt analysis: Five factors the Maroons star must weigh up before choosing NRL club

As Ben Hunt prepares to meet a fresh NRL suitor, PETER BADEL analyses the five major factors the Maroons star must weigh up as he ponders a Red Hill return. Watch the analysis.

Queensland Origin star Ben Hunt travelled to Brisbane over the weekend for face-to-face meetings with the Broncos and Dolphins. Will he sign with the Roosters or Bulldogs or come home to Queensland? PETER BADEL analyses the five reasons Hunt must weigh up as he considers a Red Hill reunion.

1. THE LEGACY

Hunt has unfinished business at the Broncos. There is a romanticism to the notion of Hunt finishing his career at the Brisbane that first spotted him as a 12-year-old via legendary scout Cyril Connell.

The Broncos handed Hunt his NRL debut in 2009 and six years later, he wore Brisbanes’s No.7 jumper in the 2015 grand final to the Cowboys. That night still haunts many at the Broncos and no doubt Hunt, who dropped the extra-time kick-off which led to Cowboys champion Johnathan Thurston’s premiership-winning field goal.

If he comes home to the Broncos, Hunt right the wrongs and pen his own Red Hill fairytale.

2. THE LIFESTYLE

Queensland. Beautiful one day, God’s Country the next. Hunt can trade the Sydney smog, relentless rat race and exorbitant cost of living in the Harbour City for his own slice of paradise in Bris-Vegas.

Just ask Adam Reynolds. The Souths champion went from living in a self-described “shoebox” in inner-Sydney to a sprawling six-bedroom mansion on Brisbane’s northside. The skipper is so happy in Brisbane, he says he never plans on going back to Sydney.

Earlier this year, Hunt forked out $2.7 million to buy in the Byron Bay hinterland, a purchase that fuelled speculation he was headed to the Titans.

However, sources close to Hunt claim his partner Bridget are settled in Sydney, which opens the door for the Roosters and Bulldogs.

3. THE ROSTER

Hunt, realistically, has two years left in his decorated career. He turns 35 in March and history shows few athletes (hello Cameron Smith) can compete in the NRL beyond their 37th birthday.

Hunt has won Origin titles and a World Cup for Australia but the final frontier is the premiership ring that has eluded him. The clock is ticking.

The Dolphins have the salary-cap room to win a bidding war but the NRL newcomers are still in their embryonic years where just making the playoffs would be an admirable feat.

The Bulldogs are a few years away from true title contention.

The Roosters are not the title powerhouse they once were. The Chooks should make the finals this year but a rebuild of sorts is required following the loss of Luke Keary, Joey Manu, Jared Waerea-Hargreaves and Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii.

Brisbane had a shocking 2024 campaign but there’s no doubt that, on paper, they have the roster to be a top-four team next season. If Reece Walsh, Adam Reynolds and Ezra Mam return to their 2023 form, Hunt could be the final piece in the puzzle in the spine.

4. THE COACH

Dolphins coach Kristian Woolf has done an outstanding job with the Tongan national team but remains unproven in the NRL.

Next year is Woolf’s baptism as an NRL coach, a stark contrast to the Roosters’ Trent Robinson and Brisbane’s Michael Maguire, who are proven as premiership winners. Maguire won a title at Souths in 2014, while Robinson chalked-up a hat-trick of premierships between 2013-2019.

If Hunt wants continued betterment and knowledge, he may find it with Robinson, a deep thinker who is one of the code’s sharpest minds.

If he craves finding an extra edge as an athlete, he would relish working under Maguire, a noted disciplinarian who drives tough standards and backs himself to extract the best of every player he coaches.

The winds of cultural change are sweeping through Red Hill. It’s the reinvigoration Hunt needs.

Ben Hunt has met with several NRL clubs. Picture: NRL Images

5. THE FUTURE

The Broncos and AFL powerhouse Collingwood are the biggest brands in Australian sport. Brisbane, backed by an $80 million empire, are the premier NRL brand and a corporate juggernaut that can position Hunt beautifully for life after football.

Petero Civoniceva returned to Brisbane from Penrith for a one-season cameo in 2012 and it was the preamble to an ambassadorial role with the Broncos.

Sydney glamour club the Roosters are similarly powerful and the influence of billionaire chairman Nick Politis cannot be undersold.

At the Dolphins, Hunt could achieve greatness by steering the club to a watershed premiership, but few Broncos go backwards when they reach the Red Hill exits.

If Hunt was to help break Brisbane’s 19-year premiership drought, it would be his Everest moment in football.

It would justify all the pies and cans of coke legendary Broncos scout Connell rewarded Hunt with in ‘Dozer’s’ journey from Central Queensland bush kid to Brisbane’s best halfback hope since Allan Langer.

Originally published as Ben Hunt analysis: Five factors the Maroons star must weigh up before choosing NRL club