Ben Hunt knew it, and to his credit, owned it immediately. Not that that made it any easier on the eye.
The Dragons had 17 seconds for a Hail Mary play on Sunday with Hudson Young watching from the sideline, because he didn’t have enough time to get to the sin bin.
Needing a try to draw level, and enjoying a 13 on 12 advantage to make it happen, Blake Lawrie took the ball.
With two tries in six games this year, after one try from his previous 103, the workhorse prop is in rare try-scoring nick – but not that rare.
With one last tackle after Lawrie’s settling play was easily contained by the Canberra defence, the Dragons still had that 13 on 12 advantage, and still needed that try to draw level.
Hunt went short to Lawrie’s fellow front-rower Josh Kerr. Three Raiders defenders swamped him and stopped him several metres short of the tryline, before two more joined just to make sure of the inevitable.
Ben Hunt reacts during the Dragons’ eventful six-point loss to Canberra.Credit: Getty
The Dragons skipper – their best throughout Anthony Griffin’s tenure by a considerable margin – had a rare off day, finished with a play that summed it all up and the look of a man who had locked his keys in his car, with the handbrake off while parked on a hill.
For a day that started with Moses Mbye trotting out at hooker instead of Jacob Liddle as named, a team list stuff-up that didn’t cost the Dragons an interchange but now has the NRL considering a breach notice, it was perhaps an appropriate ending.
On Tuesday the St George Illawarra board will be presented with a list of coaching candidates for 2024 and beyond, with Griffin’s credentials spoken for by the Dragons’ performances.
That includes the above play, 11th- and 12th-place finishes during his tenure, and a laundry list of off-field discipline issues to leave a lack of on-field smarts in the shade.
“I was just pretty disappointed in myself [with] that last play to be honest,” Hunt told Fox Sports immediately after full-time.
“I should’ve went out the back rather than hit Josh Kerr. But as for us going forward, we’ve just got to keep working hard. Our attitude towards defence is pretty good, we just need to tighten up with our attack.”
As has most always been the case for Griffin’s side, the effort and attitude Hunt speaks of was well and truly there. It was just well and truly undermined by the thought, or lack thereof, behind it.
Going into the Raiders clash, the Dragons’ 7.6 penalties conceded per game was the most of any team in the league bar Canterbury (7.7).
Only three were given away to Canberra, but again the headline acts were dumbfounding and unnecessary.
Jack de Belin – earning around $800,000 a year – lifted Tom Starling’s leg when he was going nowhere and already held by two teammates. The Raiders hooker was upended beyond the horizontal, the whistle was blown and from the next set Canberra took the lead through a Seb Kris try.
A moment later, Jack Bird hit Jamal Fogarty late as he kicked high. It wasn’t late by much, but it was late and it didn’t need to be, Jarrod Croker more than happy to pot the resulting penalty goal.
“It’s a really tough couple of weeks when we put ourselves in a position to win two games,” Griffin said afterwards.
“That’s never been an issue, we’ve just got to play better at vital times, both sides of the ball.
“They’ll turn it around, they’re a good team.”
Unfortunately for Griffin, with his career on the line, the Dragons aren’t a smart one.
