Why Hunt contract drama is about to heat up; Matty’s ‘best ever’ call on Storm star: Hoops

The Ben Hunt situation at St George Illawarra will heat up again now the Dragons season has come to a close.

There’s certainly no suggestion Hunt will be asking for a release from the final year of his Red V contract next season.

But there are figures within the Dragons set-up who are of the view it is time to move on after seven seasons and only one finals appearance.

St George Illawarra made the finals in Hunt’s first season at the club in 2018 and since then have finished 15th, 12th, 11th, 10th, 16th and 11th.

For now the Dragons won’t be offering Hunt another deal beyond 2025 – unless he starts next year on absolute fire.

But by that stage it could be too late.

Watch the best coverage of the 2024 NRL finals, with expert analysis and every game until the Grand Final LIVE with no ad-breaks during play, on Kayo. New to Kayo? Start your free trial today >

Why? Because this means the Kangaroos and Queensland regular will be a free agent open to offers from rival clubs as of November 1.

You can guarantee there’ll be plenty of club’s still interested in the champion playmaker even at the age of 34.

Hunt is a meticulous trainer and diligent in terms of his recovery so there’s no signs of his body slowing down any time soon.

The only way the Dragons would be open to possibly releasing Hunt next season would be if the club could acquire a halfback of similar ability.

This is where it will get interesting. Does a rival club try and orchestrate a swap deal with a view to sharpening their roster?

The Sydney Roosters are the obvious one with Sam Walker ruled out for nine months with an ACL injury.

For now, the Chooks are simply worried about trying to break their 0-9 Panthers duck dating back to the beginning of 2020.

We’re also tipping the Roosters will soon extend young gun halfback Walker on a two-year deal through until the end of 2027.

The Gold Coast could be another club interested in a senior playmaker like Hunt with Kieran Foran off contract at the end of next year.

Expect to read plenty more about the Hunt situation over the coming months.

PROOF THAT HUGHES IS ONE OF THE LEAGUE’S BEST RUNNERS EVER

The one and only Matty Johns made our ears prick on Tuesday night when the face of Fox League labelled Jahrome Hughes one of the greatest running halfbacks the game has seen.

“I was sitting there today and I was thinking to myself have I ever seen a halfback with as good a running game as Jahrome Hughes?,” Johns said on the Matty Johns Podcast.

“Alf (Allan Langer) was rapid over the line but I don’t think I have.”

Matty’s brother the Eighth Immortal Andrew Johns was undoubtedly one of the greatest running halfbacks of all time.

The same goes for the likes of Allan Langer, Greg Alexander, Johnathan Thurston, Stacey Jones or more recently Mitchell Moses.

But when we got Fox Sports Lab to crunch the numbers from the past five seasons it was no surprise to see Hughes a knockout winner when it comes to being the NRL’s running man complete with line breaks and tackle busts.

Since the beginning of 2020 Hughes has run for 7829m and made 69 line breaks – almost 2000m more than his nearest rival and almost double the line breaks.

The next best is Manly’s Daly Cherry-Evans with 5944m and 32 line breaks.

Panthers champion Nathan Cleary was always going to be in the mix with 4927m and 34 line breaks and has the runs on the board as the best big game player out of all of the current halfbacks.

Then Mitchell Moses is next with 4266m and 39 line breaks.

It’s always dangerous when you let us anywhere near the Lab but these numbers simply don’t lie.

When the Melbourne Storm initially signed Hughes eight years ago he was a fullback who’d been cut by Gold Coast and North Queensland.

Hughes inked a contract on a minimum wage deal worth $140,000.

In front of him in terms of the pathway to the Melbourne No.1 role stood Billy Slater, Scott Drinkwater and underneath was a rookie called Ryan Papenhuyzen.

Back then Hughes was offered to the Wests Tigers for $160,000 and St George Illawarra for $170,000 but the Storm was the only club interested.

Imagine what the Wests Tigers and St George Illawarra would pay for a player of the Kiwi Test halfback’s calibre right now.

Leading into the 2024 NRL finals Hughes now comfortably sits alongside Panthers champion Nathan Cleary as the best halfback in the NRL.

But the road to becoming a red hot favourite to win this year’s Dally M Medal is a journey of hard work, setbacks and positional switches.

The last time the Storm won the NRL premiership in 2020 Hughes started the season having only played six games the previous season as an NRL No.7.

In 2019 Brodie Croft had been the Storm’s starting halfback until round 19 when a loss to the Canberra Raiders meant coach Craig Bellamy pulled the trigger and opted to shift Hughes from fullback to the playmaking role.

Ryan Papenhuyzen was also promoted into the starting side and caught fire all the way to winning a Clive Churchill Medal in the grand final.

It was a coaching masterstroke as the Storm kicked on to win the club’s third premiership under Bellamy.

BULLDOGS WERE ALREADY FACING BIG ADDO-CARR CALL

There’s a strong tip around Canterbury-Bankstown were considering moving on Josh Addo-Carr well before all the headlines of this week.

The Foxx is off-contract at the end of next season anyway and the word was the Bulldogs would take a wait and see approach on any new deal beyond 2025.

Depending on the result of the current police investigation Addo-Carr may or may not be looking for a new club.

One thing for certain the Foxx will have no trouble finding a new home in the NRL if the Bulldogs do decide it’s time to part ways.

It will be a tough decision for Canterbury-Bankstown because the Foxx remains one of the Bulldogs most popular players amongst members and fans.

The Bulldogs’ mantra this season is Club First, Team Second, Individual Third.

Coach Cameron Ciraldo and general manager of football Phil Gould have done a brilliant job in putting the frame work in place for the Bulldogs to qualify for the club’s first finals series since 2016.

The drums will be going berserk when the Bulldogs meet Manly at Accor Stadium on Sunday.

Gould also showed true leadership with the way he handled the Addo-Carr issue this week by fronting the cameras and answering all questions.

COWBOYS DISCARD’S CHANCE AT REDEMPTION

For all the hype about Kalyn Ponga returning to Townsville to square up with the North Queensland Cowboys, there’s another key position player from up north who will also have a score to settle against the Knights.

Tully Tigers junior Jake Clifford was always regarded as one of the best emerging halves in the game before a cameo of a couple of seasons with Newcastle ended his career in the NRL.

It took Clifford going over to the UK Super League with Hull FC before returning to the Cowboys this season to really re-ignite his NRL career.

Cowboys coach Todd Payten made the brave decision in round 23 to axe veteran halfback Chad Townsend in favour of Clifford.

North Queensland has since gone on a three-game winning run to roll into the finals full of momentum.

No doubt Clifford will be aiming to continue to light up the Cowboys attack and bounce the Knights out of the finals in week one.