Ben Hunt brought down the curtain on a sublime individual campaign with another sensational performance in the Dragons’ 22-12 win over the Broncos on Saturday night.
Now, he’ll turn his attention to negotiating a contract extension to keep him at the club beyond his current deal, which expires next season.
Hunt promised “it’ll be sorted before next season”, and said it’s “definitely a possibility” that a deal is done even before he is able to negotiate with any rival clubs.
Hunt said after the Dragons final clash: “The season’s over now so we’ll get it sorted out.”
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He stated: “Yeah, it’ll be sorted before next season. We’ll get it done,” adding: “It’s definitely a possibility (it’ll be done before Nov. 1). I informed the club I just wanted to wait until the season was over and we’ll get it sorted.”
Coach Anthony Griffin also laid bare his desire for the club to retain the 32-year-old beyond 2023.
Griffin said: “He’s obviously our captain and halfback. We’re gonna do everything we can. I know he wants to stay. We’ll do whatever we’ve got to do to get that done.”
As he rattled off a list of Hunt’s stellar moments in the match, the captain couldn’t help but smile: “It’s just big moments, as I say. The work to put (Mat) Feagai down the sideline – what a great try. Then he put (Cody) Ramsey over. 40-20s again. Try saving tackles.”
Asked if he believes Hunt could win the Dally M Medal, Griffin replied: “I think, you know, over 25 rounds the points tell you the picture. There’s nowhere to hide in the NRL. He’s been outstanding, he’s been outstanding individually, he’s been outstanding as a leader for our club. It’s unfortunate we’re not going to play playoffs.
“Having him as our captain and our leader gives us a real purpose and an arrowhead there that we can build around now.”
