![\"HUnt\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/dc1b353681b57a7fc1adf56f1f52914c.jpeg\"\/)
<\/p>\nBen Hunt’s passion for the game is still as strong as it was when he debuted which is why he is closing in on a one-year contract extension with Brisbane.<\/p>\n
“It’s pretty close,” the 36-year-old utility said.<\/p>\n
“We’re working through it and hoping to probably have it done in the next couple of weeks.”<\/p>\n
With 364 NRL games under his belt, Hunt is a chance of joining Cameron Smith as the only player to notch 400 premiership games.<\/p>\n
“I’m really excited. I love this club and I’m very grateful that they’re gonna give me the opportunity to go around for another year,” Hunt said.<\/p>\n
“I definitely feel like I’ve still got plenty to give, so I’m glad we could work something out.<\/p>\n
“I’m just taking it year by year at the moment.”<\/p>\n
While the Broncos have Parramatta playmaker Jonah Pezet on the way in 2027 and young gun Tom Duffy showing he is a long-term NRL half, Hunt’s ability to play five-eighth, half and hooker makes him a valued asset.<\/p>\n
With the new NRL rules regarding the six-man bench, the times suit him.<\/p>\n
“It’s like the old backup quarterback on the bench,” he grinned.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Ben Hunt (right) says he still has the passion to go around in the NRL for another year. (Joel Carrett\/AAP PHOTOS)<\/p>\n
“I’m still just really enjoying my footy. I know I just got back from an injury, but outside of that the rest of my body’s feeling good and I still feel like I can contribute.<\/p>\n
“I love being in this arena. I love coming to training every day and being around the team.<\/p>\n
“While that drive’s still there and I feel like I can contribute I want to go on.”<\/p>\n
The Broncos play the Warriors at Suncorp Stadium on Sunday after consecutive losses.<\/p>\n
Hunt, who returned from a knee injury at halfback in the heavy loss to Manly, will revert to a bench role with captain Adam Reynolds back this week from a concussion absence.<\/p>\n
“Reyno coming back’s only a boost for our team,” Hunt said.<\/p>\n
“Any player we can get back at the moment is good for us, so getting the skipper back in there to lead us around will be good.<\/p>\n
“I can fall back into a bit of a utility role and get put in wherever.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ben Hunt’s passion for the game is still as strong as it was when he debuted which is…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":665453,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[18743,64,63,21686,3193,761,762,158,85,63143],"class_list":["post-665452","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nrl","tag-adam-reynolds","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-ben-hunt","tag-cameron-smith","tag-national-rugby-league","tag-nationalrugbyleague","tag-nrl","tag-sports","tag-tom-duffy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/665452","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=665452"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/665452\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/665453"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=665452"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=665452"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=665452"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}