Wayne Bennett won't entertain a mid-season release for Dragons-bound Ben Hunt after dumping the former Kangaroo to reserve grade, a decision his soon-to-be-coach Paul McGregor labelled as "strange".
On the day he was officially unveiled as the Dragons coach for the next two seasons – which will make him the longest-serving coach in the joint venture's history – McGregor shied away from Hunt starting his St George Illawarra service early.
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Bennett has shunted Hunt back to Ipswich for the Intrust Super Cup this weekend, preferring Benji Marshall and Kodi Nikorima in the halves for Brisbane's clash against the Rabbitohs on Friday night.
It immediately raised speculation Hunt could head south to bolster the Dragons' top-four hopes for the rest of 2017, but McGregor was guarded on the prospect.
![Dropped: Ben Hunt needs to find form after coming back from injury.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170610230725im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/w/n/c/e/h/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gwn6q1.png/1496930650121.jpg)
"He's not in my colours in '17 and he's a great acquisition to the club going forward in '18," McGregor said. "I find [the demotion] quite strange.
"You'd have to talk to Ian [Millward, recruitment boss] where that fits in. I'm very comfortable with our playing group now and where we are on the table. That's something I won't give much energy to right now. I'm very comfortable with our roster."
Josh McCrone has been a steadying influence for skipper Gareth Widdop at the scrumbase this season and the Dragons might only have to pick up four months of Hunt's contract for this year if he was to head to Wollongong early.
But Bennett all but quashed that idea on Thursday, claiming Hunt needs to run the ball more as he struggles to regain his best after a six-week hamstring injury.
![Excited: Paul McGregor 'can't wait' to get to work every day.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170610230725im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/w/m/s/c/t/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gwn6q1.png/1496930650121.jpg)
"He won't be going anywhere [mid-season]," Bennett said. "That's not even an agenda item.
"Ben has always been going to the Dragons. He's an important part of our club and remains so. We don't think that he'll be out of first grade too long. He just needs to get a few things right.
"It wasn't an easy decision but it's been made. Just form [was the reason] ... Benji has played really well, Kodi has played well, Anthony [Milford] has picked his game up in the past three or four weeks. It came down to who I wanted to put where and Ben's form hasn't been where we wanted it."
The same can't be said for the Dragons, who can cement a top-four spot with victory over the struggling Bulldogs at ANZ Stadium on Monday.
Their stunning start to the season meant McGregor was always favoured to earn an extension beyond this year, less than 12 months after the Dragons fizzled out of contention in 2016.
"I suppose failure didn't hit me until last year because in my first year of coaching we made the finals," McGregor said. "Last year was the smack in the mouth I needed to be honest with you.
"I took it personally, it hurt and I knew obviously we needed some change. The players were strong enough and honest enough to have some honest discussion about where we need to go."
It led the Dragons to establish a football performance committee – including ex-skipper Mark Coyne and former Sydney FC boss Dirk Melton – to review the club's performance with McGregor's job an important consideration.
But now the 49-year-old will only be one year shy of Roy Masters (1982-87) for time served at the helm of the Red V when his deal finishes in 2019, a time frame in which he is hopeful of delivering St George Illawarra another premiership.
"I take a bit of pride [in that statistic]," he said. "I love the club, I've got a passion for the club and I go to work excited every day. And that won't change. That's what I like to do. I've tasted business, I've tasted other things ... but I didn't wake up every day thinking, 'I can't wait to get there'. Now I do. To be in that position in a couple of years time I can't wait.
"I understand the fans because I know the club. When they were at their loudest ... I can understand that. It was hard to hear it was at times, but I understood their frustration because we were playing a very rigid style of footy that was unappealing. That was something we reviewed at the end.
"We've changed the way we play and brought a bit more excitement and we've got to continue to do that. There's games you'll lose doing that, but it's a brand people still like to see."
Dragons chief executive Peter Doust said: "We don't give up too easily on the decisions we've made for good reason and he was a good example of that. We've had confidence in Paul for a while and we think he's a career coach."
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