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Kennel Legend
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Ben Hunt is likely to be just one of the halfbacks the Bulldogs speak to as they accelerate their quest to land a No.7 and No.1 in the coming months.
It’s an open secret the Bulldogs are looking to offload Kyle Flanagan, but even if they can’t, it appears they will bring someone in over the top of him.
Fullback is also a priority and the Dogs will examine prospective No.1s carefully. They have already been linked to Penrith’s Stephen Crichton, who has played predominantly as a centre, but has had impressive stints at fullback.
Hunt’s meeting with Canterbury on Friday is an interesting one. It comes on the back of revelations on Channel Nine that he has been made a very low offer by the Dragons.
“Yes, I met with Ben and his manager,” Bulldogs general manager of football Phil Gould told me. “He is a very impressive person, but at no point did we talk about an offer or money. It was a conversation to get to know him. I simply said if things don’t work out we’d like to chat to him then.
“We are after a halfback and a fullback. Ben Hunt is an obvious choice and he has a lot of the qualities a club looks for.”
The Bulldogs’ interest puts pressure on the Dragons to act on their star halfback. If Hunt does
re-sign with St George Illawarra, Canterbury will most likely target his understudy, Jayden Sullivan.
There is another element to this story: the man managing the Dragons’ salary cap and recruitment is Shane Flanagan, the father of Kyle, the player the Bulldogs are trying to replace. It appears to be a lose-lose-lose situation for Flanagan snr. If he signs Hunt and doesn’t let Sullivan go, he will have a disgruntled player at his club. If he signs Hunt and lets Sullivan go, his son will be on the outer at Canterbury. And if he doesn’t sign Hunt, who is off contract at the end of 2023, he may go to the Bulldogs and replace his son anyway. This relates to a story we broke earlier this year where we revealed Canterbury were proposing a swap deal, Sullivan for Flanagan. It didn’t happen.
It’s an open secret the Bulldogs are looking to offload Kyle Flanagan, but even if they can’t, it appears they will bring someone in over the top of him.
Fullback is also a priority and the Dogs will examine prospective No.1s carefully. They have already been linked to Penrith’s Stephen Crichton, who has played predominantly as a centre, but has had impressive stints at fullback.
Hunt’s meeting with Canterbury on Friday is an interesting one. It comes on the back of revelations on Channel Nine that he has been made a very low offer by the Dragons.
“Yes, I met with Ben and his manager,” Bulldogs general manager of football Phil Gould told me. “He is a very impressive person, but at no point did we talk about an offer or money. It was a conversation to get to know him. I simply said if things don’t work out we’d like to chat to him then.
“We are after a halfback and a fullback. Ben Hunt is an obvious choice and he has a lot of the qualities a club looks for.”
The Bulldogs’ interest puts pressure on the Dragons to act on their star halfback. If Hunt does
re-sign with St George Illawarra, Canterbury will most likely target his understudy, Jayden Sullivan.
There is another element to this story: the man managing the Dragons’ salary cap and recruitment is Shane Flanagan, the father of Kyle, the player the Bulldogs are trying to replace. It appears to be a lose-lose-lose situation for Flanagan snr. If he signs Hunt and doesn’t let Sullivan go, he will have a disgruntled player at his club. If he signs Hunt and lets Sullivan go, his son will be on the outer at Canterbury. And if he doesn’t sign Hunt, who is off contract at the end of 2023, he may go to the Bulldogs and replace his son anyway. This relates to a story we broke earlier this year where we revealed Canterbury were proposing a swap deal, Sullivan for Flanagan. It didn’t happen.
Hunt chase puts Flanagan in no-win situation
The man managing the Dragons’ salary cap and recruitment is Shane Flanagan, the father of Kyle, the player the Bulldogs are trying to replace.
www.smh.com.au
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