After a career defined by resilience, Ben Hunt's return to Brisbane gives him one last chance at the ultimate prize

Ben Hunt's football career has been long enough that there's little he hasn't experienced. But few players have a career that sees them restarting with the Brisbane Broncos, almost back to square one.

Hunt's role upon his return to Brisbane is already clear, as he'll feature in the team's final trial. His primary task will be to provide cover for Adam Reynolds and Ezra Mam, especially during Mam's extended absence at the start of the season.

After that, Hunt may transition to the hooker position, sharing playing time with young gun Blake Mozer. He could also play in the halves if new coach Michael Maguire wants to speed up the attack. It's a decent role for Hunt, who is about to enter his 17th season and has always considered himself better suited to being a great player than a great halfback.

Back when Hunt burst onto the scene in Brisbane nearly two decades ago, the young Broncos player was as highly touted as someone born into high society. In 2008, at just 18 years old, Hunt became the inaugural under-20s Player of the Year, seemingly destined to become one of the NRL's premier halfbacks. However, he didn't directly ascend to the halfback role but continued as a utility player, waiting for his opportunity.

It took Hunt almost five seasons after his NRL debut to play more than three consecutive games at halfback. By then, he had already played 82 first-grade games but only started six times as a halfback. When Darren Lockyer was injured during the 2011 finals series, the team opted not to choose Hunt, instead playing back-rower Matt Gillett at halfback in the preliminary final against Manly.

In the 2012 season, the team chose Corey Norman, not Hunt, as Lockyer's long-term replacement. In 2013, after Norman moved to fullback, the club signed 33-year-old Scott Prince to partner Peter Wallace, leaving Hunt to continue waiting. Once his opportunity came, things happened quickly. Just a year later, Hunt was playing for Australia, and his career truly took off.

Hunt received widespread criticism after signing a lucrative deal with the St. George Illawarra Dragons. But he responded with one of the best seasons of his career. In 2020, Hunt's form dipped, and he was briefly relegated to the bench before playing hooker and five-eighth. But he quickly rebounded, winning back-to-back club Player of the Year awards and eventually earning a spot in the Queensland team, finally becoming a regular at the representative level in his 13th year of first-grade football.

The lowest point of Hunt's career remains that dropped ball in the 2015 grand final, which almost destroyed his entire career. Unless he wins a premiership, that shadow will never truly disappear. But his match-winning try in the 2022 State of Origin decider came very close. That try seemed to be a watershed moment in his transformation, completing his transition from rock bottom to the limelight.

Hunt's consistent performance as a competitor has earned him respect and admiration throughout the game, as well as the adoration of Queensland fans. His gift and his flaw is that he has always remained himself, while the environment around him has constantly changed. He still has the same great dummy, speed, and burst, and he still kicks powerfully when he goes for goal. Function still matters more than form, and he can still punch above his weight.

Hunt hasn't had to change his game to compensate for physical decline as he's aged, like Benji Marshall, Cooper Cronk, Jonathan Thurston, or even Lockyer himself. Hunt may become the second-most capped player in the NRL's history, but he's never needed to do that because he's never slowed down.

Hunt has used the same tools that made him a star during his first stint in Brisbane and one of the few bright spots for the Dragons in recent years. He contributed 93 try assists in 83 games over the past four seasons. But if a club isn't successful over a long period, then no one is immune. The Dragons haven't reached the finals since Hunt joined the team in 2018.

As the team's biggest star, Hunt shouldered a lot of the blame, and things became a mess. The Dragons tried to build the team around him, bringing in Griffin and many former Broncos and Queensland teammates, but it didn't work. Ultimately, last year's parting of ways was the best option for both the player and the club. They had been through too much together, but not enough of what everyone wanted.

Therefore, Hunt has returned to Brisbane, where a part of his heart has always belonged. He said he watched every Broncos game during his seven years away. He's back where he started, reintegrated into high society. Under Maguire, a Brisbane team with so much talent should be thinking about winning a premiership. Having a halfback of Hunt's caliber as a backup is enviable, and if he can do what he has done for state and country in recent seasons at hooker/lock, the team's attack will become even more varied and threatening.

Even if captaining the Dragons didn't always suit Hunt, his presence as a veteran will help a team whose youth and confidence can sometimes overwhelm them. He will be the last Broncos player to have played alongside Lockyer, which feels significant. Hunt will make a team that already has premiership aspirations faster, more lethal, and better both on and off the field.

Even his staunchest supporters would admit that Hunt's reputation took a hit during his departure from the Dragons. But this isn't something he hasn't experienced before. If the knocks his career has taken were enough to stop him, he would have disappeared long ago. The prize is always worth the price, and winning a premiership in Brisbane would be the ultimate reward. He can't afford to wait for the storm to pass during his second stint with the Broncos as he did the first time around. Considering he will turn 35 in March, he doesn't have enough time, and even Ben Hunt can't wait forever. The job must be done now, and Hunt may be rising from the depths, but that's also when he always seems to rise the highest.