Dragons players insist Ben Hunt remains their best captaincy option – and his message is still getting through to players.
Hunt looked dejected after the Dragons were belted 52-16 by bitter rivals Cronulla on Thursday night.
He was noticeably quiet behind the posts after each of the nine Sharks tries.
Hunt met with Dragons management at the start of the week and agreed to stay until at least the end of this year. A late cameo for title contenders Brisbane will not happen, but an exit back home to Queensland, with two more years to run on his current Red V deal, appears a formality.
It has sparked debate about how Dragons players now take on-field orders from someone who does not want to be at the club.
Hunt was prepared to give up the captaincy when he made it clear he wanted to leave after Origin II.
Ben Hunt has been backed to continue as captain at St George Illawarra.Credit: Getty Images
But he was backed by teammates to remain in the top post, with one of the club’s few genuine captaincy contenders, Jack de Belin, telling this masthead late on Thursday: “He’s told us he’s all in the rest of the year, and I’ve got no doubts he will be.
“We’ve had two tough losses on the trot, it’s unfortunate, but it doesn’t take anything away from the fact [Hunt] is the skipper of our side.
“We have a job to do, which is to turn up and play footy. We don’t turn up thinking about the politics or anything like that.
“Clubs at certain stages will also ship players. It’s a part of footy, players come and go, or want out or want to stay. We just can’t get involved in any of that.”
Hunt was ill most of the week and did not train until the captain’s run before the trip to the Shire.
He finished with one run and one try assist. On balance, a playmaker in a side that had less than 40 per cent possession was always going to struggle to make an impact.
The 33-year-old said the headlines surrounding his future had not been discussed in the dressing room.
And the goal for the rest of a season that cannot end quick enough for the club was to “come together as a group, fight harder than we have the last two weeks and get some wins”.
Caretaker coach Ryan Carr refused to use the Hunt distractions as an excuse.
“We’ve moved on from all that stuff,” he said. “He’s here with us, he’s part of our team, and will continue to be that for the rest of this year.
“That’s all we can focus on. It’s got nothing to do with Ben and his off-field stuff. It will take all of us to fight our way out of it.”
The Dragons are last on the ladder, with the potential play-off for the wooden spoon to come in round 21 against the Wests Tigers.
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