A pair of Broncos greats believe the club is on the cusp of ending its 19-year premiership drought now that Ben Hunt’s redemption mission has begun.
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Hunt returns to Brisbane seven years after leaving the club where he infamously dropped the ball in golden point of the 2015 grand final to hand Johnathan Thurston’s Cowboys the premiership.
But now the 34-year-old playmaker returns to Red Hill, where he made his NRL debut in 2009, determined to win an elusive title.
Brent Tate and Steve Renouf both won competitions for Brisbane and the pair believe Hunt’s return is the missing piece of the club’s premiership puzzle.
“It’s just a huge signing, Benny Hunt is a leader of men,” Tate told foxsports.com.au.
“He’s a fair age, Benny, but he’s an old pro. You don’t play as long as he has without being a professional and he’s going there to win a comp which is a really powerful message for those younger blokes.
“It’s a very good signing, it’s perfect in every way I look at it. It definitely makes them contenders again. It puts them back on the map, well and truly.”
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Renouf agreed that Hunt makes the Broncos – who sacked coach Kevin Walters last month a year after losing the grand final – premiership contenders again.
“Benny has been there and done that and he’s still playing for Australia and Origin and playing really good footy,” Renouf said.
“Wally (Lewis) and I presented the Australian team their jerseys before the first Test in Brisbane (last month). We had dinner with the team and I saw Benny and whispered to him ‘Are you coming back to Brissy?’ and he said ‘I’d love to’.
“So it was quite funny how keen he was and that it eventuated. I just think he’ll be a good asset, especially with his leadership.
“People are saying to me that he’s getting a bit old, well he’s still playing for Australia so why wouldn’t you get him back.
“They were on that (premiership) track in 2023 then they had a chequered year with injuries this year. Benny can play No. 7, he can play No. 6, he can play hooker and he’ll do the job at all three. He’s just so versatile, he’s a great signing.”
The Broncos are expected to be without Ezra Mam for the majority of next season after the star No. 6 was charged following a car crash where he failed a roadside drug test.
It was looking almost impossible for new coach Michael Maguire to sign a like-for-like replacement, but Hunt will now take Mam’s place in the halves alongside Adam Reynolds.
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Tate pointed out that Hunt was expected to orchestrate almost everything in attack at the Dragons but he said it will be a completely different story at the Broncos.
“Having Reyno now just allows him to do what he does best and that’s play footy. He won’t have to control the team and I think they’ll complement each other,” Tate said.
“At the Dragons he was doing everything… this just gives him the freedom to play without the pressure.
“I mean, playing for Brisbane there’s always going to be pressure, you’re wearing the Broncos emblem on your chest. But what this move does is allows him to enjoy it, he can sit back over the next couple of years and just play footy.
“When you haven’t got that pressure on your shoulders you just find, I’m not gonna say the love for the game again but I think just having it just frees him up and allows him to enjoy it and do what he does best and just play footy.
“Above all else, it just gives them some flexibility on the field, especially with Ezra out now.
“But it’s what he adds off the field which is going to be the biggest thing. Benny is the type of bloke where if those blokes are doing the wrong thing, he’s not afraid to tell them to pull their heads in.”
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Renouf echoed the sentiment and said he was excited to see what Hunt can do while Reynolds pulls the strings.
“It’s huge because he won’t have to wear that pressure as Reyno will carry it,” he said.
“It’s going to be great for his footy, he can get around the field and play the way he likes. He’s no slouch, he’s kicking it at every level.
“It’s just a smart signing to get us through a tough period and we’ve got some really good players there, it’s just an adjustment of their mental capacity and I think Benny will benefit the team by coming back.”
Tate believes Hunt’s nightmare moment in the 2015 decider – when he dropped the golden point kick-off to put Thurston in position to boot the Cowboys into history – is the driving force behind his return.
“I think it’s a huge factor, there’s a bit of avenging things about it all and that he’s going back to correct things,” Tate said.
“I’m sure 2015 would still play on his mind. I’ve still got games I look back on and shake my head, I don’t think you ever get over it really, you just learn to live with it.
“When you’re a professional athlete and you’re a bloke who is as competitive as Benny, knowing him like I do, I think the only way to quash all that would be to win a comp. That would be the final tick of the box for him, so I’m sure it still weighs on him pretty heavily.
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“I remember when we lost the 2008 World Cup at Suncorp, I’ll never get over that – when Billy (Slater) threw that footy back and Benji (Marshall) scored, I was so embarrassed for such a long time about that. It was a good month and a half before I even got out of the house, I was devastated.
“But at the end of the day I don’t think Benny Hunt has got anything to prove to anyone, he’s doing this purely to prove it to himself, he wants to go back and win a comp. And if that were to happen, far out, it would be a pretty cool story for everyone.”
Renouf was inside the stadium on that fateful night in 2015 and said the Hunt pile-on that followed was out of line.
“You’ve got to feel for him, I was there that night and we had the game won and that happens, it’s rugby league,” he said.
“I just felt so sorry for him and some people heaped it on him and I always thought that was unfair. The Broncos did the same last year, losing the lead (in the grand final).
“But Ben bounced back and he’s been playing well at the Dragons leading them around and he won’t have that pressure here. That will be the first thing Madge says to him, Reyno can run the show, you just play footy.”
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