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New St George Illawarra coach Shane Flanagan is adamant Ben Hunt will serve out the remaining two years of his contract as halfback and captain, insisting he won\u2019t want to be anywhere else once the club starts enjoying success.<\/p>\n
Hunt, a member of the Prime Minister\u2019s XIII squad that will take on PNG in Port Moresby next weekend, has made no secret of his desire to return to Queensland. In a series of recent interviews, he pledged his support to the Red V but admitted he did so grudgingly after a release request on the eve of State of Origin II was knocked back.<\/p>\n
Flanagan, who meets with Hunt each week to discuss any concerns, has noted the playmaker\u2019s comments. However, the premiership-winning mentor dismissed calls from some to strip Hunt of the captaincy or to allow him to make an early exit.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can read his comments in a lot of different ways, but he did confirm that he is at the Dragons next year,\u201d Flanagan said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll the conversations I\u2019ve had with him are about that. It\u2019s all been positive and about what needs to change. He wants to win. He\u2019s a competitor, and I\u2019m the same; we\u2019re in the same boat.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we achieve what I think we can do, he won\u2019t want to go anywhere. That\u2019s my attitude to the whole thing.<\/p>\n
\u201cBen\u2019s biggest problem is we haven\u2019t been winning footy games. A club came in and offered him a lot of money to go elsewhere and we would all think about that. He\u2019s got to look after him and his young family, but he\u2019s got a contract with us.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ll be working hard and he\u2019s not going anywhere.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can read between the lines as much as you like, but we\u2019ll both be working hard and he will be the halfback and captain next year.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Dragons captain Ben Hunt and incoming coach Shane Flanagan.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Getty<\/cite><\/p>\n Hunt told this masthead on Thursday that he had given thought to relinquishing the captaincy in the middle of the year, but is now confident he remains the best person to lead the team. Flanagan echoed those sentiments.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m comfortable with Ben being our captain,\u201d Flanagan said. \u201cThere\u2019s been a lot of speculation about how can you have him as your captain? Let me deal with that.<\/p>\n \u201cI get on well with him, he\u2019s one of our best players. He will learn a lot about leadership between November and the start of the season. I\u2019ll make sure that happens and he\u2019ll be a good leader.<\/p>\n \u201cPart of our program next year will be a leadership program. It will be like our strength, our speed, our football skills and all that sort of stuff; there will be a component of leadership.<\/p>\n \u201cLeadership in sport is not about being the best player any more; it\u2019s changed, and it\u2019s a big job at footy clubs.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are so many different components of it: the squads are a lot bigger, a lot of different personalities and media, social media, so many different bits of it.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you don\u2019t have strong leadership, it can be really hard to manage a squad.\u201d<\/p>\n The Dragons finished the season in 16th spot after a tumultuous campaign that included the Hunt saga and the sacking of coach Anthony Griffin. However, Flanagan believes there is cause for optimism next season.<\/p>\n \u201cI want to play semi-finals,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve got the squad there. There\u2019s some really good players that have got more in them and I need to get that out of them. Moses Suli, Jaydn Su\u2019a, Zac Lomax, Jack Bird, Jack de Belin, Blake Laurie \u2013 they\u2019re all class players and we have some exciting young ones as well.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are some players who have played Origin and I need to put some good kids around them.<\/p>\n \u201cI expect to play semi-finals. There\u2019s no five-year plan, it\u2019s about being competitive year to year and getting to a point where they plan semi-finals year in and year out. It\u2019s achievable; Melbourne do it, the Panthers do it.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have an exceptional junior league catchment area down south, so we can do it. We just need to work harder.\u201d<\/p>\n Stream the NRL premiership 2023 live and free on <\/b>9Now<\/b>.<\/b><\/p>\n Sports news, results and expert commentary. <\/i><\/b>Sign up for our Sport newsletter<\/i><\/b>.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\nMost Viewed in Sport<\/h2>\n
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