{"id":609512,"date":"2026-04-15T23:49:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-15T23:49:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/609512\/"},"modified":"2026-04-15T23:49:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-15T23:49:09","slug":"ben-hunt-makes-decision-on-nrl-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/609512\/","title":{"rendered":"Ben Hunt makes decision on NRL future"},"content":{"rendered":"

Veteran half Ben Hunt<\/a> has formally notified the Brisbane Broncos<\/a> of his intention to play beyond the 2027 season, casting fresh light on the decorated playmaker’s long-term future in the NRL<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The decision follows months of speculation about whether 2027 would mark the end of Hunt’s career as he approaches his 38th birthday.<\/p>\n

The 360-game veteran returned to his debut club last season and was a pivotal member of Brisbane’s premiership-winning team.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The move back to Red Hill also saw Hunt surpass 200 appearances for the Broncos across multiple stints with the club.<\/p>\n

Hunt’s current two-year deal was widely viewed as a chance to finish his career where it began, but his latest indication suggests the veteran isn’t ready to hang up the boots just yet.<\/p>\n

Since rejoining Brisbane, Hunt has alternated between the halves and a bench utility role, providing valuable experience and versatility to the Broncos’ squad.<\/p>\n

His desire to cement a long-term role could, however, provide some salary cap woes for the Broncos, as the contest for Reynold’s number 7 jersey is set to heat up.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Should Hunt extend his career, he is on track to push past the rare 400-game milestone \u2014 a feat achieved by only a handful of players in the game’s history.<\/p>\n

Depending on his fitness and Brisbane’s – or whatever team he may join – ability to consistently play finals football, Hunt could even have his sights set on the all-time NRL<\/a> appearance record held by Cameron Smith<\/a>, who retired with 430 games.<\/p>\n

Smith finished his career at 37, while Hunt would be 38 if he extended by just one season beyond 2027.\u00a0<\/p>\n

However, the playmaker could potentially push his career to 39 should he decide to continue playing until the end of 2029.<\/p>\n

Broncos coach Michael Maguire<\/a> confirmed to the Daily Telegraph that the veteran’s future remains under discussion but praised Hunt’s enduring passion for the game.<\/p>\n

\u201cBenny is working through that (his future) at the moment,\u201d Maguire told the Daily Telegraph.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe loves the club, and he loves football.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe just loves the game, and I really enjoy coaching a guy like that.<\/p>\n

\u201c’Hunty’ says he still has the hunger to get out there and rip into training, and he is in the same in games as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhilst that fire is burning, Hunty is keen to keep going.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Veteran half Ben Hunt has formally notified the Brisbane Broncos of his intention to play beyond the 2027…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":281554,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":["post-609512","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\/609512","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=609512"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/609512\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/281554"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=609512"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=609512"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=609512"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}