St George Dragons star Ben Hunt seems likely to take the field against NZ Warriors on Friday night, despite asking for an immediate release from his contract with 'The Red V'.
Hunt, 33, has been the Dragons captain and best performer through an NRL season that sees them just two points off the bottom of the competition ladder, with four wins from 14 games.
He has played a crucial role in Queensland's State of Origin success against New South Wales this week, but used his representative absence to drop a bombshell on his club, reeling from the dismissal of coach Anthony Griffin and signing of Shane Flanagan for next season.
Despite the uncertainty over his availability, Hunt was named in the Dragons line-up to face the Warriors at Wollongong, pending his recovery from Origin II at Brisbane on Wednesday. He has reportedly told media he expects to play, despite the short turnaround and interstate travel.
Neither the Dragons nor Warriors have made changes to their squads 24 hours out from their encounter.
Flanagan is adamant he intends building his programme around Hunt, who celebrated his 300th NRL game last month - 187 for Brisbane Broncos and 113 for the Dragons. He has played 16 games for Queensland and 12 tests for Australia, including last year's World Cup final against Samoa.
Hunt's agent has reportedly been warned about talking to other clubs, while the player is still under contract.
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