Dragons skipper Ben Hunt has denied suggestions there’s a leak in the playing group after details of the incident between Mikaele Ravalawa and Zane Musgrove at the team’s hotel in Mudgee were released to members of the media.
The club had a less than ideal start to the year, with both Talatau Amone and Francis Molo involved in off-field controversies, and now allegations the teammates had an altercation at the team hotel after an embarrassing loss to South Sydney in the Charity Shield.
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Following details of the incident popping up in the media, club legend James Graham blamed “snitches” in the team for stirring up more drama.
But Hunt pushed back against the claims.
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“Everything seems to get out these days. It doesn’t matter what happens – you can’t keep it quiet,” he said.
“I don’t think there’s a mole in the group. I don’t think there’s anyone that’s intentionally gone out and ratted the club out. It’s just something that happens these days.”
It’s been a rough couple of years for Dragons supporters as the club’s discipline on and off the field has let them down.
Players were caught breaking COVID-19 stay at home orders when they had a barbeque that resulted in hefty fines and suspensions being handed down. Then reports emerged of only a handful of players attending last year’s presentation night after missing the finals for the fourth consecutive year.
“I really don’t have a problem with the culture here,” Hunt said.
“There’s obviously something that happened with a couple of individuals that the club is working on and working with those guys to help them out. On a whole, I don’t think there’s a culture problem.
“There’s a great bunch of fellas here and everyone is working hard every day to be better. Everyone wants to win so I don’t have any issues.
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“We had a discussion just as a playing group about the incident and what had happened. We addressed it and said it’s time to move on and focus on rugby league. (We said) that stuff doesn’t happen here anymore and that it’s all about the footy.
“The start of the season couldn’t come quicker for us. We need to get out there and play some games. If we start playing games and winning games then that stuff doesn’t matter.
“What we did out in Mudgee wasn’t great for us, but we believe that’s not what we’re about. I definitely think we’ve got a lot more to offer than what we showed out there,” the halfback added.
“Through the pre-season, we’ve been building to something really well, so in a way, I’m kind of happy that happened down there. We probably got that game out of our system and know we need to be better now.
“It’s a bit of a wake up call that games are here now and we need to be better than what we were out there.”
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