‘F***… crazy’: Incredible words between Broncos teammates in touching GF moment revealed

It was one of the most touching grand final scenes in recent memory – and now, the Broncos stars involved have revealed the “crazy” on-field details.

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With just over eight minutes remaining in last year’s decider against Melbourne, Ben Hunt was concussed after being struck on the jaw by a knee from Storm forward Ativalu Lisati, while trying to make a tackle.

It was immediately apparent that he was hurt. As Hunt staggered through an attempt to rejoin the defensive line, Broncos fullback Reece Walsh ran to his teammate and held him upright, while Storm fullback Ryan Papenhuyzen also rushed in to check on the veteran’s welfare.

Both No.1s were lauded for the concern they showed in the heat of such an enormous moment, with Brisbane leading only 26-22 and the game still on the line.

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“I seen it early, hey, and I’ve going trying to tell the ref before they’ve even played (the ball),” Walsh said during a special Fox Theatre viewing of the grand final, recalling Hunt’s “noodle arms” as a tell-tale sign.

“F*** … You were brown bread (dead)! Brown bread.”

Though Hunt was sent for a head injury assessment, ending his night, he was extraordinarily alert after the brutal head knock.

“We’ve probably all been there, where you just get that glance and you know if you wobble at all, you’re getting taken off. And I’ve had them before where you’re just like, ‘Stay straight, get up, get onside. The whole time I can remember thinking, ‘Get onside, just get onside, get onside’,” Hunt said.

“And I couldn’t get my feet back under me, my I just kept going and then with Walshy coming and grabbing me … we had a little chat about finishing the ends of sets well or something, kicking to the corner. (Though) I don’t think we kicked again after this.

“But yeah, it’s kind of strange. People don’t believe me, but I can deadset remember it all.”

Hunt was initially groggy, as he was being held. Yet moments later, he stunned Walsh by barking his name and marching over to issue orders about icing the game, rather than walking straight from the field. Even in the haze, he clearly recalled that halfback Adam Reynolds had already been lost to a hamstring injury.

“That was crazy,” Walsh said.

“I’m holding him and he’s ‘errr, errr’, just murmuring whatever he’s saying to me. And he’s going to walk and then he goes, ‘Walshy!’

“’Yeah?’

“And he’s like, ‘Make sure you complete the sets, end the sets, clean end of sets. I was like, ‘Yeah, sweet bruz, all good!’

“Just for him to be able to have that in his head after what he went through there, it just shows the preparation we had through the week, everybody was locked in and they knew their role, what we were doing. F*** … pretty crazy.”

Hunt added: “I can remember is all. In my head I was like, ‘Reyno’s off, Walshy’s our only kicker left, make sure you finish our sets well.”

Hunt had more motivation than anyone to win that decider, having infamously dropped the kick-off in golden point extra time during Brisbane’s 2015 grand final; allowing Cowboys legend Johnathan Thurston to kick the match-winning field goal.

He was ecstatic at having won a ring in his first season back at Brisbane – and even had a laugh at his expense while rewatching the nasty GF head knock.

“Glass jaw!” he quipped.

“That looks like me just doing fitness, brother!”