Dragons reportedly table ‘lowball’ offer for QLD Origin star Ben Hunt

Abraham Smith

St. George Illawarra has reportedly put forward a “lowball” offer for captain Ben Hunt, despite the halfback having arguably the best year of his career.

The 32-year-old was tremendous for the Dragons in 2022, starring in State of Origin’s Maroons series and is a Dally M Medal favorite.

Hunt, who is signed until the end of 2023, has publicly expressed his desire to remain in the Red V for the rest of his career, despite ties to Queensland and ties to the Dolphins and Titans.

to Dragons CEO Ryan Webb News Corp Recently, the club hoped to re-sign Hunt for two more seasons, which would see the halfback stay at Wollongong until the end of 2025.

Initial reports suggested the offer for Hunt would be around $850,000 a year – a significant cut from his current contract, which he signed with the joint venture in 2018.

But according to senior reporter Danny Weidler 100% Footy, the offer for Hunt is far less than most would expect.

“There’s talk of Ben Hunt being offered $850,000 a year to stay with the Dragons when his contract expires late next year,” he said.

“In fact, they actually knocked him out — he was being offered around $700,000 a year.

“I think the Dragons feel he will stay at the club because of his love for coach Anthony Griffin, he’s made it pretty clear he wants to play under Anthony Griffin.

“The offer will not go down well with his management – I think at least four or five clubs will hear this news tonight and be like ‘okay we can have a crack’.

“If he wasn’t their best player, I don’t know who was.”

Hunt has had a stellar individual campaign at both club and representative levels but his upcoming contract negotiations are likely to dominate the headlines unless the Dragons act quickly and top up their bid.

There are many mitigating factors in Hunt’s next deal, as young shooter Jayden Sullivan is raring to go and potentially looking to move on should his skipper extend to 2025.

Junior Amone recently signed a new deal, while reports suggest veteran hooker Andrew McCullough could be sacked or could retire next year.

Phil Gould believes the Dragons will need to top up Hunt’s contract to remain in the red and white with his own club Canterbury circling the aforementioned Sullivan and his situation.

“I dont know [the offer being] disrespectful, but I don’t know if that will be enough to sign him,” Gould said.

“To my knowledge he asked for about $850,000 or $875,000, which I thought was pretty reasonable given his status on this team.

“Dragons really fight when Ben Hunt isn’t on the field and he wears them pretty much every week – I’m not sure they can afford to be without him.”

Hunt was vilified for much of his tenure with the Dragons for his hefty $1.1 million asking price, with the club only reaching the Finals once in the five years he’s been at the helm.

Hunt’s age has also been questioned, with a possible extension putting him well into his mid-30s and possibly past his prime.

But according to NRL great Paul Gallen, time is on Hunt’s side and he still has plenty of good footing in him.

“At the moment time is on his side, he still has a contract for next year,” he said.

“He doesn’t have to rush things. I think he’s a really good player and there are a lot of players these days who play well into their thirties, especially in the halves and hooker positions.

“I think if you look at Cooper Cronk, he played until he was 36 or 37.

“He will be 33 [when his contract finishes]so I think he has some really good years left.”

Hunt will lead the Dragons into the final two games of the season before a likely spot in the Kangaroos squad ahead of the Rugby League World Cup.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *