{"id":425446,"date":"2026-01-20T12:28:12","date_gmt":"2026-01-20T12:28:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/425446\/"},"modified":"2026-01-20T12:28:12","modified_gmt":"2026-01-20T12:28:12","slug":"brisbane-broncos-ben-hunt-says-jonah-pezet-signing-right-move-despite-losing-coby-black-to-raiders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/425446\/","title":{"rendered":"Brisbane Broncos\u2019 Ben Hunt says Jonah Pezet signing right move, despite losing Coby Black to Raiders"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cYou could probably look at it in the long run, and it could be a benefit for both players. Coby\u2019s a great talent; obviously he\u2019s been in all the rep sides coming through his juniors, and he\u2019s a good young kid.<\/p>\n

\u201cRugby league isn\u2019t always fair, you don\u2019t always get what you want, and I\u2019m sure he\u2019ll go down there and do a great job \u2013 I have full belief in that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brisbane would have been eager to ease Black into first-grade, given the added pressure that comes with playing for the club.<\/p>\n

Tom Dearden was perhaps the most famous example, who has confessed to struggling with that scrutiny but has become one of rugby league\u2019s leading halves since moving to North Queensland.<\/a><\/p>\n

Loading<\/p>\n

However, Broncos enforcer Ben Talty was adamant Pezet possessed the fortitude to ensure the side would remain successful beyond the retirements of Hunt and Reynolds.<\/p>\n

Talty and Pezet both grew up in Newcastle, and the pair crossed paths again last preseason at the Storm. That time was enough to convince Talty the rising star was ready to handle the expectations.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a great kid, Jonah, and he\u2019s going to do really well this year, and then when he comes to this club, he\u2019s going to be awesome to have,\u201d Talty told this masthead.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s his time now. When I trained down with him, he\u2019s very slick with the ball, he plays very direct \u2013 he\u2019s got all the qualities you want in a good halfback.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything he does, he\u2019s very professional, so he\u2019s ready to make this step up.\u201d<\/p>\n

Whether Pezet assumes the halfback duties will remain up in the air until Hunt and Reynolds make definitive calls on their futures.<\/p>\n

Neither will be pushed into retirement at the end of their 2026 contracts, it seems, with Maguire suggesting \u201cit\u2019s not up to me, that\u2019ll be up to their bodies, I imagine\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"Ben<\/p>\n

Ben Hunt claimed the first premiership of his career with the Broncos in 2025.Credit: AAPIMAGE<\/p>\n

Hunt is set to make the move to hooker in 2026, beginning with the World Club Challenge against Hull KR on February 20<\/a> \u2013 a clash that will not include edge forward Brendan Piakura, who has been sidelined for eight weeks after suffering a meniscus tear at training.<\/p>\n

The veteran has worn the No.9 jersey for Queensland in State of Origin, and insisted he would not turn down a call from Maroons coach Billy Slater in a bid to prolong his NRL career.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll always put my hand up, unless I believe I\u2019m not up to the standard, and I think if I\u2019m not up to the standard then Billy is definitely not calling me,\u201d Hunt said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs long as I\u2019m playing good footy and Bill\u2019s got belief in me, I\u2019ll always play. If I still feel like I\u2019m playing well and my body\u2019s all right, then I\u2019ll want to play on.\u201d<\/p>\n

Start the day with a summary of the day\u2019s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cYou could probably look at it in the long run, and it could be a benefit for both…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":425447,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":["post-425446","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nrl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-national-rugby-league","tag-nationalrugbyleague","tag-nrl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/425446","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=425446"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/425446\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/425447"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=425446"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=425446"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=425446"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}