St George Illawarra Dragons prop Dan Hunt is honoured to be making his 150th milestone game for his childhood club against the South Sydney Rabbitohs at WIN Stadium, Wollongong on Saturday.
The Dapto Canaries junior made his first-grade debut in the opening round of the 2007 campaign and admits he still remembers like it was yesterday.
Furthermore, the prop is additionally thankful to all the players that have helped him along the way in his career to date.
“I do remember it quite clearly, it was up at Suncorp Stadium against the Gold Coast Titans, it was a very fast and physical game,” said Hunt.
“I know I was very nervous before we ran out, but the boys looked after me; it’s one of the memorable games.
“There’s been a few people who have been quite influential over the years and some I’ve observed and learnt a lot from.
“Definitely, Dean Young has been a massive influence on me, he has an incredible work ethic and has a non-nonsense, no-excuses attitude.
“Matty Cooper has been an outstanding role model, he’s a very professional athlete.
“I learnt a lot from Jason Ryles, he’s a great player, Michael Weyman and I think Wayne Bennett had a big impact on my career too.
I’m very honoured to have been around such professional athletes and coaches over the years.
“Although, it’s a personal milestone for me, for us as a team, it’s about putting in 100% and doing our job and working hard for each other.
“It would be great to get the two points, obviously we’ve been struggling of late and it’s not acceptable.
“We need to work harder, stick together and mark ourselves higher, but our goal is definitely to get the points.
“I think it’s an attitude thing, we showed some good signs of what we’re capable of and we just need to better, in rugby league you need to back up performances and be consistent.”
