St George Illawarra coach Paul McGregor has defended omitting Ben Hunt as his side’s NRL season goes on the line against Penrith on Friday night, saying he put the million-dollar playmaker’s welfare first.
The Dragons will be buoyed by the return of forward leader James Graham from a broken leg after a nearly two-month lay-off however they’ll be without Hunt.
The joint venture are struggling to salvage their season from 14th spot, two wins behind eight-placed Penrith going into the Panthers Stadium clash.
Hunt toiled admirably for Queensland during their State of Origin series loss to NSW, playing 80 minutes at hooker, defending in the middle of the field and making 128 tackles across three games.
But he looked flat during their 36-14 thumping at the hands of Canberra last weekend, missing five tackles, and has been replaced by Darren Nicholls against the Panthers.
Asked if it was a risk to rest one of his star players with their season approaching do-or-die territory, McGregor said: “Not if you look at the welfare of the player, it’s not a risk.
“He thought he’d be okay after the Origin. But with the performance (against the Raiders), we got together on Tuesday, we thought the most important thing was to look after Ben as a person.”
The Dragons’ defensive record this year paints a picture of team a down on confidence and cohesion having conceded the most points of any team in the competition (365).
They have conceded the most tries (4 per game), the second-most metres (1496), the second-most linebreaks (5.2) and missed the fifth-most tackles (26.4).
“We’ve had an awful lot of changes to different positions throughout the year in back-rowers and centres and middles so there’s no continuity at times and trust and belief becomes an issue when you haven’t been beside each other continually,” McGregor said.
“However we’ve got to make sure that’s not an excuse and we get on with it.”
With the Dragons needing to win five or six of their last eight to make the finals, sections of the club’s fanbase have called for McGregor’s sacking.
“I don’t take anything personally and, if they’re talking about me, they’re leaving the players alone and that’s a good thing,” McGregor said.
“We certainly didn’t anticipate being in this position after a successful 2018. Being 85 minutes away from a grand final with a similar squad.
“In the NRL there’s a small room for error. We need to be better.”
