Dragons interim coach Ryan Carr has revealed Ben Hunt will stay at halfback this weekend as Jacob Liddle returns from reserve grade as the first-choice hooker to face the Roosters on Friday.
Appointed as interim coach following the departure of Anthony Griffin, Carr said the 300-game veteran Hunt will return to the position he was "brought to the club to play" as the Dragons desperately chase their first win since Round 5.
With star centre Zac Lomax and Liddle recalled to the starting side, young hooker Jayden Sullivan has moved back to the bench – leaving Hunt to take back the reins as an 80-minute halfback.
“He’s going to play halfback this week for us because that’s what he was signed to play here at the club,” Carr said facing the media for the first time on Thursday.
“What the future holds [for Ben], I don’t know. We’ve got an Origin period coming up, so we’ve got to figure a few things out but he’s a world class nine and a world class seven so we’re pretty blessed.
Hunt reflects on 300
“Ben is a great leader and he’s a great team player. He’s 100 percent selfless so he does whatever is best for the team and what we feel like we need.
What I love about Ben is he wears his heart on his sleeve, he gives it his all and he doesn’t care where he plays or what he has to do for the team. That’s the sort attitude we want all the players to have.
Ryan Carr Dragons interim coach
Meanwhile, Carr said the decision to recall Lomax and Liddle to the starting side after both were dropped to reserve grade last week was made soon after the Dragons were defeated 42-22 by the Cowboys in their absence on Saturday, and well before his promotion from assistant coach on Tuesday.
“Team selection gets spoken about well before what happened on Tuesday, so these were discussions that were had straight after the game when we played the Cowboys up in Townsville,” he said.
“So we’d been planning to bring them back this week regardless, so it’s not a whole backflip on anything.
“These guys have been in the mix all along; we’re pretty blessed with a really deep squad at the moment, we’re really healthy and there’s not a lot of injuries.
“But those two boys have done a really good job and had a great attitude when they went back to NSW Cup, they went really well on the weekend.
Lomax grabs a screamer
“That’s the message we’re trying to send here as a team and a club: if you play well you’re in the team and do your job, you’re in the team. If you don’t then you’ve got to work on some things back in Cup, that’s life and that’s the business we’re in.”
After last week's starting halfback Jayden Sullivan was left off the field following a sin binning early in last week's match, Carr said the 21-year-old Dragons junior will return to an impact role off the bench this week.
“In terms of what role he’ll play tomorrow night, we’ll see how the game flows as that has a big impact on what you do with your interchange,” Carr said.
“Bud [Jayden] is a great kid, he’s got a lot of footy in him and has got a lot of potential. He’s only young, he’s still developing.
"He’s got a lot to bring to this squad and team and I’m just going to keep being honest with him.”
Super sub Sullivan
With only one point splitting the two sides on Anzac Day, Carr’s first match as coach comes with a big test against the Sydney Roosters.
After a week of off-field drama surrounded the St George club, Carr said the focus for Friday night’s Round 12 clash will be on controlling the controllable.
“Everything that’s happened this week is out of our control but what’s in our control is what we do tomorrow night on the field, they’re footy players, that’s all they are and that’s what they’ve got to be on Friday night," he said.
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“It’s been a big enough week to focus on us and that’s not with any disrespect to the opposition at all, more just with what’s happened and the adversity the group has gone through this week.
“It was a real good week just to focus on what we can control. It’s a real good opportunity to go out there and put our DNA on the field and show who we are as a team, regardless of the opposition.
“We’re just trying to come together really tight as a team, I genuinely feel like we’ve got everything we need right here, we don’t need anything else.
"The answers are here with us and we just need to make it about us and stop worrying about everyone else and all the outside noise.”