Dragons skipper Ben Hunt insists there’s no tradition drawback on the membership and denied solutions there’s a rat amongst the taking part in group after allegations somebody leaked what occurred in Mudgee to members of the media.
St George Illawarra has endured a torrid few years with gamers caught breaking Covid-19 keep at residence orders once they had a barbeque that resulted in hefty fines and suspensions being handed down.
Issues didn’t get higher when solely a handful of gamers turned as much as final 12 months’s presentation night time after a tricky season that noticed them miss the finals for the fourth 12 months in a row.
The membership can be coping with contemporary controversy with Talatau Amone and Francis Molo each in sizzling water off the sphere, and that’s on prime of what went down in Mudgee after an embarrassing loss to South Sydney within the Charity Protect.
The incident between Mikaele Ravalawa and Zane Musgrove on the staff’s resort is on the minor finish of the atrocity scale, however followers seem fed up given every thing else that has gone on on the membership.
“I actually don’t have an issue with the tradition right here,” Hunt stated.
“There’s clearly one thing that occurred with a few people that the membership is engaged on and dealing with these guys to assist them out. On an entire, I don’t assume there’s a tradition drawback.
“There’s an amazing bunch of fellas right here and everyone seems to be working exhausting each day to be higher. Everybody needs to win so I haven’t got any points.
“We had a dialogue simply as a taking part in group concerning the incident and what had occurred. We addressed it and stated it’s time to maneuver on and concentrate on rugby league. (We stated) that stuff doesn’t occur right here anymore and that it’s all concerning the footy.
“The beginning of the season couldn’t come faster for us. We have to get on the market and play some video games. If we begin taking part in video games and successful video games then that stuff doesn’t matter.”
Membership legend James Graham was irate that the Mudgee incident was leaked to the media, blaming “snitches” for stirring up extra drama.
However Hunt is adamant that there’s no mole on the membership.
“All the things appears to get out today. It doesn’t matter what occurs – you possibly can’t preserve it quiet,” he stated.
“I don’t assume there’s a mole within the group. I don’t assume there’s anybody that’s deliberately gone out and ratted the membership out. It’s simply one thing that occurs today.”
The veteran skipper was improbable for the Pink V in an in any other case gloomy marketing campaign final 12 months, and he can perceive why followers are “getting a bit stressed and a bit irritated” on the state of issues on the membership.
The 42-24 loss to the Rabbitohs heaped extra strain on coach Anthony Griffin who’s coping with a significant headache as to who companions Hunt within the halves.
Griffin has a bit of additional time to kind it out with the Dragons out of motion in Spherical 1 because of the bye, and whereas Hunt concedes the Charity Protect wasn’t adequate, he says there are positives to take out of the loss.
“What we did out in Mudgee wasn’t nice for us, however we imagine that’s not what we’re about. I positively assume we’ve received much more to supply than what we confirmed on the market,” the halfback stated.
“By way of the pre-season, we’ve been constructing to one thing rather well, so in a manner, I’m type of joyful that occurred down there. We in all probability received that sport out of our system and know we have to be higher now.
“It’s a little bit of a wakeup name that video games are right here now and we have to be higher than what we have been on the market.”
