Incoming Dragons coach Shane Flanagan has revealed what occurred during Monday's meeting with Ben Hunt, in which Hunt was denied his release request.

After requesting an immediate release from the Dragons two weeks ago, the club officially denied Hunt's request on Monday.

This came after rumours circled that he would return to Queensland and play for the Broncos for the remainder of the season before linking up with the Gold Coast Titans on a two-year deal.

Shane Flanagan has revealed what happened during the 90-minute discussion that involved himself, Ben Hunt, Chief Executive Ryan Webb and Chairman Andrew Lancaster.

News Corp reports that it was understood Hunt will honour the remainder of his contract - another two seasons - and in return, the Dragons board are set to work through the skipper's grievances.

“It was a real positive meeting from the club's perspective and hopefully from Ben,'' Flanagan told 2GB.

“There was a lot of frustration (from Hunt) and you look at the competition table and you can understand where the frustration comes from.

“Ben's a winner, he wants the club to do well and he's been frustrated over the last couple of years. Obviously he lost a person that was close to him in Anthony Griffin (former Dragons coach) as a mentor, which affected Ben.

“He had some frustrations that he pointed out to the club and both of us walked out of there pretty positive - definitely I did, that we can move forward.

“There was never any doubt that Ben didn't want to play (against the Sharks) this weekend and last weekend (against the Warriors)."

Flanagan also discussed if the two were tenable after walking out of the meeting.

“Ben said he had some concerns about the club moving forward and some issues in the past and we addressed those today.

“So I'd like to think both of us walk out of that meeting a little bit happier with where things are heading.

“Ben's priorities are his teammates. He was clear on wanting to play this week.

“I see him as a big part of what we're going to do next year. I thought today was really productive."

2 COMMENTS

  2. I’m sure the dragons aren’t going to tell us verbatim what was said and rightly so. This is between Hunt and the board/coach, not the fans. All I care is that Hunt honours his contract and Flanagan can rebuild this team. Hunt needs to give Flanagan a chance and hopefully he can get his mindset right and help lift the mood inthe team. They clearly weren’t interested against the Warriors and you can sheet the fault directly at Hunt’s feet. If the captain didn’t want to be at the team, what do you think the other players were feeling that day.