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- Mar 4, 2008
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http://www.couriermail.com.au/sport...ustralian-jersey/story-fniabjcr-1227109466424
It Has taken seven years but Ben Hunt is set to finally wear the Australian jersey he declined at school.
Hunt has become such a dominant playmaker, veteran half Cooper Cronk even revealed he hopes to learn playmaking skills off the Brisbane star while in Kangaroos camp.
For all Hunt’s talent, it is his personality that people cite as the reason for his success.
When you ask Hunt’s mentors his defining quality, they always reply — loyalty and honesty.
His loyalty, evident in his support of deposed Broncos coach Anthony Griffin, first emerged in the last week of school at St Brendan’s College in Yeppoon.
Hunt was the dominant half of his age and was named half-back in the Australian Institute of Sport team to tour Europe.
Hunt though had other ideas, staying in central Queensland instead of travelling through France with a team that included Daniel Vidot, Gerard Beale and Robert Lui.
“He told me ‘I have been with my school mates for five years, I’m not leaving them now’,” his manager Col Davis said. Hunt declined the Australian tour to attend the St Brendan’s valedictory dinner and end-of-school celebrations with classmates.
On Sunday Hunt is likely to come off the bench for the Kangaroos to play hooker and halfback, with Daly Cherry-Evans expected to start at five-eighth against England.
If he does earn his Kangaroos jersey it will mark an incredible season that must go down as one of the most impressive of any Broncos player.
Davis even uses his client’s knockback of a tour as evidence to emerging players that you don’t need to be a junior representative star to become an NRL star.
Terry Hansen was Hunt’s rugby league coach at St Brendan’s, which has also produced Dave Taylor and Matt Scott.
He said Hunt was a throwback personality, a kid who was always happy to follow tradition.
“These were boys he went to school with from year eight and to go on the tour he would have had to miss out on the last week of school and he just felt it wasn’t right,” Hansen said.
“The rest of the boys went on tour. I thought it was a strange decision at the time but I just said ‘mate it is up to you’. That’s the bloke he is though.
“He always had people chasing him, schools in Brisbane offering him scholarships but he was never going to go to them.
“The Broncos wanted him to do school in Brisbane but he wasn’t going to leave his mates.
“His father was an old boy here so that was it, he was always coming here.”
Hunt said throughout his breakthrough season he hoped to play representative football to learn off the likes of Cronk.
However, Cronk said while he would gladly pass on his knowledge, he would use the tour to pick the 24-year-old’s brain.
“I’m not self-conscious about that because I love to give knowledge to younger players coming through,” Cronk said.
“(I’m) more than happy to sit down with him and do things. We will pick up stuff off one another. I might learn something off him.
“He wouldn’t be here if he wasn’t a chance. His performances have given him the possibility.
“I love the fact they have picked younger guys who are desperate to wear the Australian jersey.”
It Has taken seven years but Ben Hunt is set to finally wear the Australian jersey he declined at school.
Hunt has become such a dominant playmaker, veteran half Cooper Cronk even revealed he hopes to learn playmaking skills off the Brisbane star while in Kangaroos camp.
For all Hunt’s talent, it is his personality that people cite as the reason for his success.
When you ask Hunt’s mentors his defining quality, they always reply — loyalty and honesty.
His loyalty, evident in his support of deposed Broncos coach Anthony Griffin, first emerged in the last week of school at St Brendan’s College in Yeppoon.
Hunt was the dominant half of his age and was named half-back in the Australian Institute of Sport team to tour Europe.
Hunt though had other ideas, staying in central Queensland instead of travelling through France with a team that included Daniel Vidot, Gerard Beale and Robert Lui.
“He told me ‘I have been with my school mates for five years, I’m not leaving them now’,” his manager Col Davis said. Hunt declined the Australian tour to attend the St Brendan’s valedictory dinner and end-of-school celebrations with classmates.
On Sunday Hunt is likely to come off the bench for the Kangaroos to play hooker and halfback, with Daly Cherry-Evans expected to start at five-eighth against England.
If he does earn his Kangaroos jersey it will mark an incredible season that must go down as one of the most impressive of any Broncos player.
Davis even uses his client’s knockback of a tour as evidence to emerging players that you don’t need to be a junior representative star to become an NRL star.
Terry Hansen was Hunt’s rugby league coach at St Brendan’s, which has also produced Dave Taylor and Matt Scott.
He said Hunt was a throwback personality, a kid who was always happy to follow tradition.
“These were boys he went to school with from year eight and to go on the tour he would have had to miss out on the last week of school and he just felt it wasn’t right,” Hansen said.
“The rest of the boys went on tour. I thought it was a strange decision at the time but I just said ‘mate it is up to you’. That’s the bloke he is though.
“He always had people chasing him, schools in Brisbane offering him scholarships but he was never going to go to them.
“The Broncos wanted him to do school in Brisbane but he wasn’t going to leave his mates.
“His father was an old boy here so that was it, he was always coming here.”
Hunt said throughout his breakthrough season he hoped to play representative football to learn off the likes of Cronk.
However, Cronk said while he would gladly pass on his knowledge, he would use the tour to pick the 24-year-old’s brain.
“I’m not self-conscious about that because I love to give knowledge to younger players coming through,” Cronk said.
“(I’m) more than happy to sit down with him and do things. We will pick up stuff off one another. I might learn something off him.
“He wouldn’t be here if he wasn’t a chance. His performances have given him the possibility.
“I love the fact they have picked younger guys who are desperate to wear the Australian jersey.”
