Ben Hunt moment of truth, why Stephen Crichton should be penalised, Paul Crawley column – MASHAHER

Ben Hunt’s moment of truth has arrived in the wake of the controversial four-match biting suspension handed down to Kyle Flanagan this week.

It is only going to up the importance of Hunt to step up when the Dragons take on the Titans on Sunday for what is also being celebrated as Kieran Foran’s 300th NRL game.

Hunt gets plenty of accolades for leading the way for try assists in the NRL this year.

But close observers will also concede Hunt has had a pretty up-and-down season by his standards, and his form is nowhere near the game’s top playmakers when it comes to consistency.

He can be brilliant one week like he was in the recent shock win over the Storm.

But his performances either side of that game against the Panthers and Bulldogs weren’t near the same level.

Even though the Dragons are sitting in 9th spot behind the 8th placed Dolphins (with both on 26 competition points), there is no doubt the Dragons have the better run home with remaining games after the Titans against the Sharks, Eels and Raiders.

The Dolphins final four games are against the Bulldogs, Storm, Broncos and Knights.

This is Hunt’s seventh season at the Dragons on an average of $1m plus-a-season and the only time in that period they qualified for the finals was in his first season in 2018 under Paul McGregor.

NOSE BITE NRL’S LINE IN THE SAND

If the NRL wants to send a message to the rest of the competition that biting won’t be tolerated in the wake of Kyle Flanagan’s suspension, maybe they should start by penalising players for going overboard to slow down the play the ball like Stephen Crichton did.

It’s an absolute joke Crichton wasn’t penalised for instigating what eventually happened in that tackle after he jumped from a height to land on top of Flanagan and then proceeded to pin down his defenceless opponent with his face.

If he didn’t stick his nose in Flanagan’s mouth the incident would never have occurred.

It just highlights another wrestling tactic designed specifically to slow down the ruck, which was the whole reason the six-again set restart rule was introduced.

If we are going to giving away set-restarts for copy book legs tackles where the defender holds on a split-second too long (which occurred against the Warriors in a recent game), how in the hell do we let that tackle from Crichton go unpunished?

ANASTA’S MUNSTER BOMBSHELL

Every NRL team is looking for an edge at this time of the season.

And we are entitled to question if the premiership race has just taken a massive turn in the Panthers’ favour on the back of a bombshell revelation this week from Cameron Munster’s agent, Braith Anasta.

Because there is just no way in the world an “80 per cent” fit Munster with two dodgy hips is going to out play a 100 per cent fit and firing Nathan Cleary.

Munster of course will go head-to-head with the man most think has overtaken him as the game’s No 1 player when the table-topping Storm travel to Penrith on Thursday night in a blockbuster likely to decide the minor premiership.

The fact is we already knew the Storm would struggle to beat the Panthers this round or win the comp this year if Munster was not playing at close to his best.

We could see with our own eyes in recent weeks that Munster has been nowhere close to his potential since returning from injury three rounds back.

Munster had his first game back off the bench in the win over Parramatta before he returned to the starting side and struggled in the shock loss to the Dragons, while the Storm were hardly convincing in their win over the injury-depleted Rabbitohs last round.

Now we find out through Anasta on NRL 360 on Wednesday night that Munster will be lucky to get to “80 per cent or a bit better” even by the time we reach the finals because of his ongoing hip imbalance.

It should be pointed out that the NRL 360 host was just providing an honest update to give punters and insight into where Munster’s injury was at.

But it also put into context Munster’s below par form since his return from an injury that will require surgery at the end of the season on both sides of his body.

Any player who has ever suffered from a similar issue will tell you how it dramatically impacts their running and kicking game, but especially those who play in the halves.

Of course, the Storm also have Jahrome Hughes, Harry Grant and Ryan Papenhuyzen who are all top shelf players in their own right.

But the fact is Munster is the Storm’s highest paid star on a reported $1.3m salary (the same as Cleary) for good reason.

There was a period a few years back when Munster was without question the undisputed cutch play king when it came to delivering in the biggest and toughest matches.

Whether it was State of Origin or club footy, Munster was even drawing comparisons with the legendary Wally Lewis.

But it’s been a while since Munster (who turns 30 next month) was playing anywhere near the dominant football that he was previously.

Meanwhile, in just four games back from injury himself Cleary has been so far ahead of the field that he is now constantly being compared to the great Andrew Johns for the way he can control/dominate when either playing on the front foot or when his team is under the pump.

Cleary nailed the match-clinching field goal in the golden point win over the Dolphins in his return.

Since he’s masterminded wins over the Dragons and Panthers, before orchestrating that incredible comeback victory over the Eels.

You even go back to the preliminary final last year where the Panthers blew the Storm off the park with a comprehensive 38-4 spanking on track to winning their third straight NRL title.

On that occasion Cleary also put on another masterclass to finish with a knockout victory in his one-on-one showdown with Munster, who it must be said had an up and down finals series.

Cleary was also the man of match in the grand final after he picked the Panthers off the canvas with one of the most memorable individual performances in the game’s history.

They always say never underestimate a champion because as soon as you do it will come back to haunt you.

There is no question Munster has it in him to bounce back when he is playing injury free.

But we now know that is unlikely to be at any point this season.

It surely makes it advantage Panthers on their hunt for a fourth straight premiership.

HAMMER GETS EXPOSED

Dolphins superstar fullback Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow could do worse than listen to Stephen Crichton’s post match interview on Fox League last round ahead of the Dolphins clash against the Bulldogs in Bundaberg.

After another impressive attacking effort in the win at Kogarah over the Dragons, Crichton spoke about the defensive mindset how his team would rather save a try than score one.

I couldn’t help but think back to the Hammer’s lacklustre effort in the lead up to the penalty try to Mitch Barnett against the Warriors last round.

It was pretty embarrassing footage watching how the Hammer showed absolutely no urgency to beat Barnett to the ball.

Of course it wouldn’t have stopped the try given Kodi Nikorima’s illegal challenge on Barnett that resulted in the penalty try.

Even still, the Hammer’s effort left a big question mark after the Dolphins almost butchered a huge lead once again before ultimately getting home in golden point on the back of Sean O’Sullivan’s 43m field goal.

After such a great start to the year, the Dolphins have really let themselves down by constantly shooting themselves in the foot.

While you can never question their effort, the attention to detail is just not up to scratch for a Wayne Bennett coached team.

PLAY THE BALL FARCE

This comes in a week where the farcical play-the ball standards were also brought to light with the majority of players no longer even attempting to use their foot.

It got to the point in the Panthers’ stunning comeback win over the Eels where only one play the ball in 11 during the Panthers’ three try avalanche even remotely resembled what used to be considered a mandatory effort.

Dean Ritchie said on NRL 360 on Tuesday night the reason the NRL is turning a blind eye to this is because they don’t want to be seen imposing another crackdown in the countdown to the finals.

Yet no one is suggesting they need a crackdown, all they need to do is enforce the bloody rules as they have written them.