Big Pete
International Captain
- Mar 12, 2008
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- 25,713
It's a really good interview that sheds some light on his history with the club. He's a premiership winner with the club so I always have time for him, but it frustrated me that he played his best footy for other clubs. After listening to his side of the story, it's easy to see why that was the case.
The stories that I took from it
- Ben was expected to play Colts in 2003 but ended up playing a full year in QCup. Ben was his own manager and when he met with Wayne to discuss an upgrade, Bennett tried to lowball him. Hannant was set to go from 25K to 7K, so Ben told him to shove his contract up his ass and he ended up going to the Roosters.
- Bennett kept in touch with him and told him that when Ben's time was up at the Roosters he wants him back. So when he was off contract, Bennett offered him a 2 year deal worth 150K. Ben agreed to it, informed the Roosters and was dropped for the rest of the season. Then at the end of the season, Ben asked how the contract was coming along and Bennett said there was only 52K left. So Ben had to work a second job at the Rocklea Markets.
- They touch on the pre-season Army camp and how intense that whole experience was. If nothing else, check this part of the podcast out because some of the stories are fantastic.
- 2008 rolls around, Hannant makes Origin and expects a decent pay-rise. He meets with Henjak who informs him that there's no money and only offered him 52K. Hannant met with the Bulldogs and took Petero's advice and asked for $350,000 which he thought they'd shoot down. Greenberg didn't flinch, offered him the deal along with other perks to have him. Hannant then met with the Broncos who wished him all the best.
- The reason he returned to the Broncos is that his young son is on the spectrum and had attempted to take his life on multiple occasions. Ben realised he needed to return to Queensland to be closer to his family and get all the support he could to save his son. The Dogs were extremely accommodating and he only had nice things to say. His son is going great guns, which is awesome to hear.
- Ben admits he got complacent around this time and wasn't Hook's cup of tea. He felt unwanted and that Hook favoured the NYC players. He doesn't hold any animosity, he respects him as a person and he regrets some of the things he said in the media about Hook.