Broncos five-eighth Ben Hunt has declared his decision to return to Brisbane was the best he's ever made after finally putting to bed a decade of grand final agony.
The veteran secured his first premiership in the Broncos 26-22 win over the Melbourne Storm, 10 years after he dropped a kick off that consigned his side to a golden point loss in the 2015 decider.
Hunt left Brisbane to join the Dragons in 2018 before an acrimonious divorce last summer. The Roosters were among the clubs chasing the playmaker's signature but he declared the decision to return home was the only one that felt right.
"I've dreamt of this the last 10 years," Hunt said. "It's taken 350-plus games but it's all worth it. All the hard yards, the family, the friends, the coaches that have put time in over the years, there's a little bit of repayment for them.
"[Returning to Brisbane] was one of the best decisions I've ever made. When I left the Dragons, there was no doubt in my mind where I wanted to go, I just had to work it out.
"We had the belief in this team. They had been in the grand final two years prior, they had Madge coming on board, I knew it was a great club. I just wanted to come back and give back in any way I could.
"You dream about being in a grand final. You know it's tough to get to, we're here now and going to enjoy it.'
While Hunt has provided a steady hand all season, his influence grew considerably throughout the past two months.
Many experts wrote off the Broncos premiership chances after a disastrous night in Melbourne that saw Adam Reynolds, Ezra Mam and Selwyn Cobbo all suffer hamstring injuries.
Hunt, however, stepped up to steady the ship and lead Brisbane into the grand final.
While Reynolds and Mam returned in the preliminary final, it was Hunt's leadership that ensured the Broncos had the chance to snap a 19-year premiership drought.
Having watched how hard the 35-year-old has worked to get back into a grand final, Corey Jensen said the team was motivated to ensure he walked off Accor Stadium a winner on Sunday night.
"2015 was a heartbreaker for Ben," Jensen said. "It constantly gets shown what happened that year. For him to come back and get a premiership 10 years later, he thoroughly deserves it.
"He's brought plenty of experience, he's the ultimate competitor and he's a calm head. He's played a lot of footy so to have him and Reynolds out there, they're really calm influences on us.
"Then we've got the talent with Reece [Walsh] and the guys in the outside backs who were unbelievable tonight, I'm proud to be part of it."
With Adam Reynolds going off with a calf injury, Hunt helped steer the ship on Sunday night while Walsh produced a starring role to help Brisbane turn a 22-12 deficit into a thrilling 26-22 victory.
The win caps a stunning rise after seven tough seasons at the Dragons.
The veteran was regularly the only bright spot for the struggling club and he now concedes he feared he'd never get another crack at a grand final.
While confident the Broncos were a top-eight side when he joined the club, Hunt said it was only a couple of months ago that he started to believe they could go all the way.
"There's definitely times where you think [another grand final] is not going to come," Hunt said. "I didn't think I'd have an opportunity to come back to this great club and I've got to thank Madge and the recruitment staff for getting me back to the club.
"I was confident we could make a push into the finals. I looked at the talent in this team and what Madge has done in his career, I was confident we can make the finals.
"It was two months ago that it hit home that we had an opportunity that we could really push for it and it's a dream come through now."
NRL.com
