Dragons captain Ben Hunt has revealed he turned down an invite to Paul Vaughan's barbecue that ultimately saw 12 of his teammates suspended for committing the NRL's biggest bubble breach since the pandemic.
Hunt and fellow Origin representative Tariq Sims were preparing to enter Origin camp for Game III after the Dragons' round 17 win over the Warriors, when half of the squad assembled at Vaughan's house for a gathering that NSW police were later called to due to noise complaints.
The incident saw all players involved issued one-game bans along with heavy financial penalties, while Vaughan had his contract torn up by the club following repeat off-field indiscretions dating back to 2018.
Speaking on Fox League's NRL 360, Hunt admitted he was made aware of the barbecue when Vaughan called to invite him, but the Dragons skipper insisted he didn't have knowledge of other teammates attending
"I got a call saying there was a barbecue in the afternoon but I wasn't aware of what was happening, or how big it was going to be or who was going," Hunt said.
"I was quite happy, I knew I wanted to have some family time and wanted to just stay home with them."
Asked whether Hunt thought about discouraging Vaughan from having a barbecue, Hunt said: "I didn't know they were all going. Vaughany just asked me if I want to come down for a barbecue and I said no thanks, I'm staying home with my family. I didn't know anything about the numbers going, or anything that happened."
After starring in Queensland's win in Origin III with a two-try, Man of the Match performance, Hunt all but confirmed he'll line up for the Dragons in Friday's critical clash with Manly.
Anthony Griffin has opted to cop suspensions to Matt Dufty, Tyrell Fuimaono and Kaide Ellis against the Sea Eagles, while Zac Lomax and Daniel Alvaro remain unavailable after refused to sign a document drawn up by the NRL to state only the 12 Dragons players were present at Vaughan's barbecue.
All the players involved in the breach have since apologised, but Hunt said they needed to earn back the trust of members and fans on the field for their actions.
"It's time to get on with it now," the Dragons skipper added.
"What's done is done and the boys are very sorry.
"We need to move on and play some good footy. We're heading into the back end of the season and we're right on the end of that top eight so we need to pull our gear together and get stuck in in the back end of the season."
