Ben Hannant Bloke In The Bar Interview

[Big Pete]

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.

 

[tommy]

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.

More proof Bennett was handing out the contracts, not Louise.

 

[1910]

More proof Bennett was handing out the contracts, not Louise.

A coach offering $150k and there only being $52k is why you have Lanigan type roles.

 

[Sproj]

That's appalling from Bennett, seems he was a bigger part of our demise than he would like us all to think. Talk about stuffing Hannant around twice based on those points highlighted there.

 

[Johnny92]

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.

Really good interview
The Hodges and Eastwood stories of the the army camp are gold.

 

[Mustafur]

That's appalling from Bennett, seems he was a bigger part of our demise than he would like us all to think. Talk about stuffing Hannant around twice based on those points highlighted there.

To be fair that is his perspective, we don't know if new things came up for Bennett since he is dealing with alot more moving parts(other players that might come available and pay rises).

But we were definitely under paying alot of players back in the day and being the only club in SEQ at the time was over powered.

 

[NSW stables]

Always liked hannant. I felt he and petero were cut from the same cloth. Hard workers and all effort on field but absolute gentlemen off the field.

 

[pennywisealfie]

Wow. After 2008 I've always really disliked Hannant. Coming from the era of when we keep who we wanna keep, this to me seemed like the first time someone left us straight up, never knew he was screwed around so much.

It was also reported at the time that when he came back, it was for a pay increase. So I've always seen him as this greedy guy that came back and underperformed. I may have to change my mind.

 

[Gaz]

Yep, I get all this, but Ben was lazy. He could have and should have done much better. Only my opinion.

 

[Super Freak]

People can complain about player managers, but that interview is the perfect reason why players should have one.

He nearly put himself in financial ruin as a result of not having one because of his own inattention.

 

[Big Del]

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.

Didn`t he win a substantial amount of money from Lotto ?

Can anyone tell what time the Boot Camp stories comes on ?

 

[1910]

Didn`t he win a substantial amount of money from Lotto ?

Can anyone tell what time the Boot Camp stories comes on ?

Yep $200k on a scratchit when he was at the Roosters.

 

[Big Del]

Yep $200k on a scratchit when he was at the Roosters.

I remember reading about it in the paper .

 

[OXY-351]

I wonder how many Politis had to buy before he hit a winner

 

[Sproj]

People can complain about player managers, but that interview is the perfect reason why players should have one.

He nearly put himself in financial ruin as a result of not having one because of his own inattention.

I don't think anyone has an issue with player managers as a role, people have an issue with the shady rubbish they regularly pull. Clubs also shouldn't pull shady stuff, it does go both ways.

 

[BroncosFever]

That's just proof of what I always thought, Bennett could have Mickey Mouse as the Football Manager, it doesn't matter. He does that role himself, as well as the recruiting. That's probably why all these clubs fall to pieces when Bennett moves on, the blokes they have in those positions weren't doing a great deal and suddenly they're asked to fulfil their role to the fullest capacity and simply can't do it as they were never asked to under Bennett.

 

[Morkel]

IIRC, the Gee Gee issue centred around.... "promised" payments to Hannant.

Theoretically, if what is rumoured to have happened did in fact happen, at the time I thought "they were 3rd party payments, regardless of whether the club promised anything, if that falls through it's on the manager", but if he was relying on that as a substantial portion of his wage, you can see why he'd get the shits.

I actually met him while he was rumoured to be weighing up the Cowboys offer or staying for less. At the Maccas at Jimboomba hahahahah (he was there with a bunch of other guys on their motorcycles). He was genuinely nice, shook my hand, I said "I hope you stay with the Broncos but it's a tough decision to make". He replied something along the lines of "yeah I have a big decision to make". Literally the next day it was announced he signed with the Cowboys. As funny as it is to think "a delusional crazy fan tipped Hannant over the edge to ditch the Broncos", he probably already made up his mind and was having one last ride with his crew. He'd not only taken massive unders, twice, but on both occasions was told it would be a lot more, on top of being fucked over by a 3rd party deal. No wonder he left.

 

[Big Pete]

IIRC, the Gee Gee issue centred around.... "promised" payments to Hannant.

The Andrew Gee allegations centred around Gee spending $298K of the League's Club money for unknown reasons. The NRL investigated whether those payments went to players to fund their TPAs. Clubs could introduce players to sponsors but they couldn't arrange their deals on their behalf. Martin Kennedy's, Anthony Milford's and Ben Hannant's contracts were all scrutinised.

Hannant was owed more than $100,000 and that had to come out of the marquee player allowance.

Gee repaid the money, then quit the club.

The last time we saw him was also the last time we saw Bennett in the Broncos coaching box.