On his first day as St George Illawarra’s interim coach, Dean Young has given Ben Hunt the certainty he has craved this NRL season.
Young set the expectations at a team meeting before training on Monday, with the next six weeks thought to be his audition for the head coach position for 2021 and beyond.
Hunt has started in four different positions this year and often switches roles mid-game but he was told by Young he will play hooker against his former side Brisbane and most likely for the rest of this campaign.
Although the million-dollar man wants to play halfback as he was recruited to do, he’s grateful for some stability.
“Straight away he told me that I’m definitely playing hooker this week so I can prepare for that,” Hunt said on Monday.
“At the moment that’s where I think I’m going to be for the rest of this year, just with how our side is set up I think that’s probably the best option for us.
“I’m happy to have that certainty, it makes the job a lot easier to just go out and focus on one thing rather than bounce around in a couple of different positions, which sort of clouds things a bit.
“I want to be a half but I’m happy that I’m going to be playing in one position.”
With Paul McGregor’s coaching spell at St George Illawarra over it was a strange feeling at training without the club legend running the show.
However, passion for the Dragons has not been lost in the top job with Young in charge.
Young played 209 NRL games for the club including the 2010 premiership win and bleeds red and white.
And in a show of solidarity with their new coach, Hunt backed him to land the job fulltime.
“I have had three years here with Deano now and he’s very committed and very focused on what he wants from a team and how he thinks the game should be played,” Hunt said,
“I think he can handle it, I think he’d make a great coach.”
The Dragons are six points out of the top eight but have not yet given up on the finals while there’s a chance.
A win over Parramatta has given them a shot of confidence, although theyr face three top eight sides in their final six games of 2020.