Physical Address
Suite 5, 181 High Street,
Willoughby North NSW 2068
A lot has changed since Ben Hunt last played for the Broncos.
Watch every game of the 2025 NRL Pre-Season Challenge Live & Exclusive on FOX LEAGUE, available on Kayo Sports. New to Kayo? Get your first month for just $1. Limited time offer.
The Clive Berghofer Centre — the club’s $27 million training facility — has opened, there’s been coaching changes and the roster is entirely different.
In fact, Corey Oates — the last remaining player left from Hunt’s final season at the Broncos — retired last year.
That’s why Hunt was “extremely nervous” before his first day of pre-season at Red Hill.
“I felt like a kid going to school for the first time,” he admitted to foxsports.com.au.
“All the players (I played with previously) had turned over.
“I did know a few guys, but it just felt like I was going into a new school and didn’t really know anyone and didn’t want to step on anyone’s toes. But after a couple of days, it felt like home again.”
To celebrate Fox League being the only place to watch all 4 games of Rugby League in Vegas live, Kayo Sports is giving away a trip of a lifetime to Sin City! Enter now at kayogreencard.com
Hunt has come full circle and is back where it all started as a 13-year-old — something he truly thought would never happen.
But rugby league loves poetic storylines and there’s none better heading into the season than this one.
Sitting in his full playing kit, Hunt took a look down and described the feeling of being back in a Broncos jersey as “pretty special.”
“We had our team photos (recently) and to pull the jersey back on for the first time, it felt pretty cool,” he added.
“I guess it does (feel like a homecoming) a little bit. I never really thought at all that I’d come back…
“There was always a part of me that wanted to, but I never thought it would happen. So, to be back and back in these colours, it does feel like home again.”
Hunt debuted for the Broncos back in 2009 and went on to play 187 games for the club before signing with the Dragons.
The 34-year-old spent seven seasons in the Red V and played some of his best football there until things started to turn sour.
Hunt and the Dragons parted ways last November and he immediately popped up on the radar of several rival clubs, including the Roosters and Dolphins.
But after a meeting with new coach Michael Maguire, the answer was clear — it was time to go home.
“It was probably just something inside that really wanted me to go back there… something deep down, (I) always had a great love for the club,” Hunt said when asked what won him over.
“I was with the club from when I was 13 and until I was 27 so a fair part of my life. It was just something that really dragged me back there and (I) wanted to finish my career there.
“I think I’ve made the right decision.”
Hunt’s Dragons departure was a long time coming given he first asked for a release in mid-2023. But his official exit happened “really quickly” — so quickly that he “didn’t really get to say goodbye to a lot of the guys.”
But it was time to close that chapter… and finally put to bed the constant speculation around his future.
“I guess there is probably a little bit (of relief),” Hunt said in regards to the saga ending.
“It was as an amazing part of my life. We had a great seven years down in Sydney and at the Dragons. I met some amazing people… friends for life.
“But there was a bit of uncertainty there at the back end. I’m just really happy now and settled with the decision I’ve made. And I’m moving on with my life.”
MORE NRL NEWS
‘KNEW STRAIGHT AWAY’: Lomax’s Eels switch and axing that rocked Dally M gun
PRE-SEASON DAILY: Axed $700k star holds league’s strangest contract; ‘silly’ NRL call
‘COCKTAIL OF MEDICINE’: Storm star’s pain as debilitating injury forces retirement
ROUND 1 TEAMS: Rep stars’ position switches; doubt over gun Panthers recruit
TEAMS TALKING POINTS: Benji’s Tigers gamble; Knights pull selection stunner
Ben Hunt is running the show with Adam Reynolds at Red Hill.Source: News Corp AustraliaHunt has hit the ground running in his new role. He’ll play five-eighth in the opening couple of months of the season while Ezra Mam is suspended and then is expected to shift to hooker — a position he’s thrived in for Queensland and Australia.
Wearing the No.6 will be a little different for Hunt, who has played 243 of his 334 NRL games at halfback. But it’s a change he welcomes with open arms.
“I’ve only had a couple of sessions because (halfback Adam Reynolds) had a bit of an injury, but when he’s out there it just makes everything so much clearer and calmer,” he said.
“When you’ve got two generals on the field organising things that makes a lot easier.
“And I’m looking forward to not playing second fiddle, but I guess playing off him and getting around what he can do.”
Ben Hunt and Reece Walsh at Red Hill.Source: News Corp AustraliaThe positional change isn’t the only thing that will feel different for Hunt this year. He’s spent the last seven seasons as the main man at the Dragons. He was often lauded for the good wins and had to answer for the bad losses.
But up at Red Hill there’s a lot of other marquee players that he’ll share the spotlight with — the likes of Reece Walsh, Payne Haas, Pat Carrigan and Reynolds.
How does Hunt feel about not being the star attraction anymore?
“It’s completely fine with me,” he said.
“I’m happy to fly under the radar and do my job.
“There’s plenty of guys there that are marquee players and that have a lot more talent than I do. I just want to go out and do my part to help them be as best as they can.”
Hunt is one of the most experienced players in the game and has a seriously impressive representative resume. But he’s still chasing a premiership — and that’s a big reason why he picked the Broncos to spend the final years of his career with.
He believes the Broncos, under Maguire, are his best chance of lifting the trophy before he retires.
Maguire was “a big driver” of Hunt’s decision to sign and the roster, which oozes natural talent and potential, was another.
“There’s a number of guys that are really coming into the peak of their careers,” Hunt said,
“If I can just come in and help that and really help excel what their talents are, I think we can do some damage.”
Ben Hunt has returned to the Brisbane Broncos after leaving the St George Illawarra Dragons, with a premiership in mind.Source: SuppliedMaguire has a tough job ahead of him as the new coach of the biggest club in the NRL.
He’s already secured one big win though in luring the in-demand Hunt to the club.
Now it’s time to lead the Broncos to a premiership — and Hunt believes ‘Madge’ has what it takes to do exactly that.
When asked what his first impression was of Maguire, Hunt described him as “hungry.”
“He’s willing to do whatever it takes to get some success and (I’m) at a part of my career where I’m pretty desperate for some success,” he added.
“Talking to him and just getting a great feel of where he’s taking the club and what he wants to do with it, it’s something that I’m pretty excited about.
“You can sense that from the first time you talk to him, that he’s willing to do whatever it takes to bring success to the club and that’s what I wanted to be a part of.”
