Clint Gutherson's move with wife that shows Dragons the leadership they were missing with Ben Hunt

OPINION

Clint Gutherson's decision to move his young family down to Wollongong shows the exact kind of leadership the Dragons have been missing with Ben Hunt as captain. Gutherson revealed over the weekend that he'll base himself in the Gong during his stint at St George Illawarra, relocating his wife and daughter from the northern beaches of Sydney.

“I’m going to move the family down, enjoy a change of scenery,” he said. "This will give me a chance to really buy into what they’re doing and be close to training and all the boys. I really want to build on what they started last year and see what they can do.”

Amid calls for Gutherson to be made Dragons captain to replace the departed Hunt, former NRL player Joel Caine said it was vital that he live and spend the majority of his time in Wollongong. "What I would want as a Dragons fan desperately is for him to move down there. We're paying you close to a million dollars, I need you living in the city," Caine said on SEN radio. "We need you there Clint, if I'm a Dragons fan we need you there, you've got to be living there Clint."

The fact Gutherson has answered the call and is willing to up-stumps with his family is the perfect example of why he should be captain. Hunt never lived in Wollongong and didn't even reside in Dragons territory, instead basing himself in Cronulla Sharks heartland in the Shire.

According to reports, the only time Hunt spent in Wollongong was for training and games, and rarely attended social gatherings that weren't mandated by the club. You can't begrudge Hunt for prioritising spending time at home with his wife and young kids, but there's a chain of thought he never connected with the Dragons or their supporters.

Clint Gutherson the perfect captaincy choice for Dragons

The Dragons need a leader who fans will see in the local community and can relate to. And the players need a captain who's around all the time and doesn't head straight home after training and games because of the commute back to Sydney.

It shouldn't be a surprise that the last captain to lead the Dragons to the finals was Gareth Widdop back in 2018, and he lived in Wollongong. One could argue that giving Hunt the captaincy was one of the biggest mistakes in club history, although there weren't many other options demanding to get the nod.

You hardly see Hunt speaking on the field or barking orders, and when the players are standing behind the try-line after conceding a four-pointer, there's rarely any chat from the man who was supposed to be the leader. In complete contrast, Gutherson is always the most animated person on the field and leads with his words as much as his actions.

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The former Parramatta captain always seems to cop backlash for how frequently he talks to the referee and questions decisions, but Dragons fans would have loved to see even a fraction of that from Hunt because it would have showed he cared and was passionate. The Dragons lived and died by how Hunt played, and when he was out of form and the chips were down, the whole team seemed to be affected.

Gutherson seems to have the ability to keep his players up and staying positive, even in dire situations. It's the kind of leadership the Dragons have been missing for the last six years, and shows they need look no further than Gutherson when deciding on a new captain.