Brisbane Broncos’ Ben Hunt opens up on his grand final nightmare

BRONCOS star Ben Hunt writes about his moment from hell and what Wayne Bennett made him go through to get over it.

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - OCTOBER 04: Ben Hunt of the Broncos reacts after defeat during the 2015 NRL Grand Final match between the Brisbane Broncos and the North Queensland Cowboys at ANZ Stadium on October 4, 2015 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Brett Hemmings/Getty Images)

NO FOOTBALLER wants to watch a replay of a losing grand final, especially when you contribute like I did against the Cowboys.

I was devastated when I dropped that ball.

It was one of the hardest times in my life and my footy career.

I’ve always felt that I’m pretty good at getting over things, but it was hard being constantly reminded about it, especially when people kept coming up to me and asking, “Why did you drop the ball?”

So imagine how I felt when Wayne Bennett came in during the pre-season and said the whole team was going to watch a replay of the grand final.

I’d gone out of my way not to watch the game — if it was on the television I’d change the channel — so I had mixed emotions when Wayne said we were watching it.

I remember everyone looked at each other, asking, “Are we really doing this?”

But Wayne asked everyone to buy into it and credit must go to the team because they all jumped on board.

I know I didn’t want to do it, but after watching the game I appreciated it, because it allowed us to understand the little things we did wrong.

Ben Hunt reflects after knocking on in golden point, before the Cowboys went on to secure a dramatic grand final victory.

HONESTY SESSION

We were also able to be really honest with each other, and that was really important. It’s never easy to point out mistakes and take criticism on the chin, but that’s what we had to do to learn and move on.

The worst thing about it is that I let all my teammates down after everything we’d done all year to work to get to that point. That was the hardest thing for me to get over.

I know none of them would say it was my fault, but it was always in the back of my mind.

In saying that, the whole squad has been so supportive.

Justin Hodges was amazing on the night when it happened. He was the first guy to console me when I dropped the ball and he did it again at full-time.

I’ve always had a good idea who my support network is and the grand final incident just reinforced that.

As hard as last year’s grand final loss was, it has driven me to work even harder to taste grand final victory.

The best thing was getting back into training, it helped being around people. Everyone had moved on from the game and was looking forward to the new season. They were all really energetic and keen to make amends and I think that helped me move on.

I know a few people have questioned the Broncos’ mentally, in terms of us having scars moving forward, but we can prove them wrong.

I don’t think it’s just us that have the mental issues. It’s a big mental challenge for every team to get to the grand final. It’s a long season and one of the toughest competitions in the world. To make it to a grand final you’ve got to be mentally strong all season and that’s what we had last year.

We weren’t the prettiest team at times, but we were always mentally strong and we worked really hard in defence.

Hunt said recovering from his role in the GF has been the hardest thing he’s had to go through.

ONE BETTER

If we can do that again this season, we’ll be going in the right direction. I’m definitely excited about 2016.

At the start of last year I was a bit uncertain about where our abilities were going to take us. I knew we had a good squad, but I wasn’t sure if we were ready to go to that next level.

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As the year went on it felt like we got better and better and I think we can improve again this season.

We’ve also picked up James Roberts and he’s definitely an excitement machine. He was a bit quiet when he first came in, but he has fit in really well and you can’t coach speed.

The more we get him the ball, the more we’ll worry other teams.

I know the team and everyone is willing to put in the effort required to get back to the grand final. It’s an exciting time.

I can’t wait for the season to start.

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Originally published as Brisbane Broncos’ Ben Hunt opens up on his grand final nightmare