ERROL PARKER | Editor-at-large | Contact
The St George Illawarra Dragons have denied Ben Hunt’s request to break his playing contract at a meeting this morning, telling him that fans will expect to find a body in the wreckage once the season is over.
The meeting took place in a Beechcraft King Air over Botany Bay this morning, with Saints chairman Andrew Lancaster breaking the bad news to the typically polite, well-mannered, and respectful Queenslander.
“No,” said Mr Lancaster as the aircraft began to break up around them.
“They expect one of us in the wreckage, brother. Your release is denied.”
With that, Mr Lancaster, the pilots, and the other board members put their parachutes on and leapt from the burning plane as it descended rapidly into the Royal National Park.
It comes just weeks after the board sacked coach Anthony Griffin over the ongoing on-field woes that have seen the Dragons slip from a respectable mid-table position to the spoon race between Balmain and Canterbury.
The Advocate understands that Ben Hunt was hoping to move back to Queensland because it’s nicer up there and it’s where he’s from. There is some suggestion, though unconfirmed at this time, that Ben wants to play for a team where the other players in the team are equally as motivated to play for said team. That has become a sticking point for many Dragons players, most of whom would rather play for another team but have found themselves trapped at Kogarah and held hostage by the board.
As for this season, the Dragons board will need someone to finger when the wheels inevitably fall off in August, and it looks to be Ben, who’s done nothing but try to turn things around for a board that ultimately wants to blame everyone but themselves for the club’s depressing shortcomings.
At the time of print, both Mr Hunt and the club were unavailable for comment.
More to come.
