Allan Langer's brutal act towards Ben Hunt revealed amid links to Brisbane Broncos return
The Broncos legend has a great relationship with the veteran halfback.
With the Brisbane Broncos officially entering the race to sign Ben Hunt, Matty Johns has revealed a brutal story involving Allan Langer from Hunt's lowest moment in 2015. The Courier Mail revealed on Friday that the Broncos have made inquiries about Hunt's interest in returning to his former club.
The halfback played for the Brisbane club from 2009 to 2017 before taking up a million-dollar per-season deal with the Dragons. Hunt's final two years in Brisbane were plagued by some brutal treatment from fans after he infamously dropped the ball in the 2015 grand final to pave the way for Johnathan Thurston's match-winning field goal in golden point.
Hunt has never managed to live down the brutal blunder, and it always seems to come up in conversation every few weeks. But after seven seasons with St George Illawarra, the Broncos are one of a number of teams interested in snaring Hunt's services.
Allan Langer's brutal comment for Ben Hunt in 2015
Speaking on SEN radio on Friday, Johns mentioned Hunt's brutal blunder in 2015 in light of links to his former club. "There would be a certain romanticism if he went there and won a comp," Johns said.
"There's a story around when he dropped the ball of the kick-off. In the sheds he was understandably in tears and Wayne (Bennett) went up and put his arm around him and said: 'Ben, in life if this is the worst thing that happens to you, you're going to have a great life.
"They went out and had a few beers that night and Ben was starting to feel better about himself. As they're about to climb on the bus, Alf (Langer) is handing all the players XXXX cans. He goes to hand one to Ben and Ben drops it, and Alfie goes 'geez Ben you can't hold onto anything can you?'"
Langer and Hunt have a good relationship and worked together for years at the Broncos and in State of Origin with Queensland. The brutal story that Johns mentioned came from Andrew Webster's book about Wayne Bennett 'The Wolf You Feed', and shows the kind of character that Langer is.
The comment was a brutal one, but would have been Langer's attempt to lighten the mood amid such a heartbreaking time. Langer was only recently moved out of the Broncos' coaching staff and gameday team to a new job working with the club's sponsors, with new coach Michael Maguire shaking things up after Kevin Walters' departure.
RELATED:
Broncos called out over Reece Walsh mistake amid detail about daughter
Jarome Luai drops startling claim about leaving Tigers for another club
Ben Hunt to reunite with Wayne Bennett at South Sydney?
The Broncos, Dolphins, Roosters and Bulldogs have all been mentioned as Hunt's most likely destination, but Johns reckons his connection with former coach Bennett puts South Sydney in play. Bennett has returned to the Rabbitohs and will be there for the next three years.
"Souths with Wayne Bennett", Johns said. "In that role, [he has a] great relationship with Wayne. You put Cody [Walker] back to six, you put Jack Wighton back out in the centres with Campbell Graham, yeah I like it."
Hunt's return to the Broncos could hit a stumbling block in the fact they're restricted by their salary cap. The Brisbane club recently inked Reece Walsh to a $5 million extension, and have lots of money tied up by the likes of Payne Haas, Ezra Mam and Patrick Carrigan.
Hunt was on $950,000 at the Dragons, and the NRL is expected to scrutinise his next deal to prevent a club signing him for anything dramatically under that mark. It appears unlikely the Broncos could afford him for that kind of money, especially in light of reports they're not expected to terminate Mam's contract due his off-field troubles.
