Brisbane Broncos coach Wayne Bennett has confirmed the club won't be granting halfback Ben Hunt an early release to join the Dragons.

Bennett made a shock change to the Broncos lineup today, dumping star half Hunt back to reserve grade and giving young gun Kodi Nikorima the nod to start in the halves.

With Hunt having already signed with the St George Illawarra Dragons for next year, murmurs began that perhaps the Broncos would entertain an early release if the halfback was no longer wanted.

But Bennett has put those rumours to bed, announcing that Hunt won't be leaving Brisbane early.

“He won’t be going anywhere this year — that’s not even an agenda item,” Bennett said.

“Ben has always been going to the Dragons next year, not this year, he is an important part of our club and he remains so.

“We don’t think he will be out of first grade too long, he just has to go back and get a couple of things right in his game.

“He was good about it, he understood.”

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