'I'd really like to take us back': Hunt ready to break Dragons finals drought 05:59

The St. George Illawarra Dragons picked up their first victory over the Storm in Victoria since 1999 and the front page of that Sunday Sport Lift out in the Telegraph sums it up perfect. Party like it's 1999. Dragons in 25-year Storm curse as race to finals hits fever pitch. Their captain is Ben Hunt and I'm pleased to say he joins us on the line. G'day Benny.

G'day, guys. How are you? Mate, really well. Congratulations on the win last night. The coach must be delighted. You blokes must be rapt to go down there and knock off the Melbourne Storm. Yeah, extremely excited, mate. You know, haven't had a lot of luck down there in Melbourne for quite some time, so it's always nice to, you know, finally get a win down there and, you know, I guess probably give ourselves a good chance to push for the finals now. Hey, Benny, really nice combination with Jadon Seward last night, mate. He had a big night for you.

Yeah, definitely, mate. I think that's close to Jadon's best game for the year. He had a really hot start to the season, which I saw him get picked for some origin footy. I think he'll be the first to admit that it's formed it a little bit. But last night he was red hot, mate, and I'm really proud for him. It's a great team performance. Ben, how do you explain the Dragons' performance

win one, lose one situation. It's happened. It's been happening for at least the last six weeks and probably happened most of the year. You play good one week and next week sometimes you get just hammered. How do you explain that? Yeah, it's a tough one being my own and a very frustrating one to be honest. It's not just week to week. It can be in games, half to half. We can come out and have some really good first halves and then completely die in the second half and vice versa. So it's

It's something that we've definitely got to address. I think last night was our best complete 80-minute game. We didn't phase out of the game at all. So that's something we can take a lot of confidence in. We know we can do it. It's just about getting our attitude right to turn up and do it each week.

Yeah, Ben, it's Neil Breen. I suppose talking about that inconsistency, a guy like Tyrell Sloan is a case in point. He can be a world beater at his best and he can dazzle the entire competition and yet he can make flaws. And we know that there was some well-publicized stuff in recent weeks. How do you harness a guy like him and the rest of those younger fellas?

Yeah, mate, we all know the talent Tyrell's got. You know, we love to see him. You know, it's just about getting him involved in the game. You know, as young kids, you know, and I was the same myself, you can really just fall out of a game and not really realise it. It'll pass you by. So, you know, I try and take a bit more responsibility and get him involved in games myself. But, you know, as we saw last night, the more we can get the ball in his hands, the better it is for us. So, you know, just keep...

working hard with him and getting his confidence up. Mate, where are you at? You've been unsettled there for a while, 12 months ago with the Dragons. Where are you at now? I know you've always been completely focused on them, but there was a lot of talk about you wanting to go to the Gold Coast or whatever. Are you completely focused with them now? Has Flanno turned that around for you? Yeah, I'm completely focused, mate, and always have been on my actual footy there. It was more about the off-field stuff that...

you know, that sort of came out and whatnot. But whenever it come to, you know, training or being game day, you know, I was a teammate first. So I've always been really focused on that. But yeah, you know, I'm focused on us now, mate, and really pushing hard to, you know, try and get us into the finals. You know, it's been a few years now since, you know, the Dragons have been there and, you know, I'd really like to take us back. Just before we take the mickey out of your coach, because he's a great mate of ours, Ben, we better give him a wrap because...

You know, you have a look at what he's been able to do in a very short period of time as the head coach of St. George-Lawara. And, you know, we don't need to declare here that we're friends of his, but we said from, you know, day one when he got the job, he'll work his magic because, you know, he's done it before. He did it at the Sharks. And by the looks of things he's doing at St. George-Lawara, can you give the fans a bit of an insight into what he's been able to do sort of behind the scenes with senior players, younger players, the off-field stuff in turning the Dragons around? What's been the main thing he's done for you guys?

There's been a number of things. Obviously, he's brought in a few new recruits. We've got a lot of new staff in there. He's changed a few things we do. But I think it just gives all the players a lot of confidence and a lot of belief that they can do their job. Some of these chats he has during the week around training and then pre-game, he really puts a lot of belief in boys that they can just go out and if they play their best footy, then we can win.

Win some footy matches and that's what last night was about. He didn't talk about winning the game so much as he talked about if we play our best performance as a team, we'll give ourselves a chance. That's what we did last night. Alright, well we've wrapped him, now we can bag him. I've never heard that part of him. Paul Gowland works with us too, Ben. When Gow played under Flannery, he said that

In team meetings, he'd forget players' names. For instance, Cameron Smith, greatest player we've probably seen in the modern-day game. We've got to get this wood duck. We've got to get the wood duck. We've got to give it to the wood duck, blah, blah, blah. I note last night Flano struggled with Nelson Osofa-Solomona's name. Here he is. Go out there and make tackles and put yourself in front of Nelson Osofa-Solomona running hard and...

He's an idiot. So, Ben, I take from that he's still struggling with opposition names? Yeah, mate, he's not the first coach that's come undone with a lot of names, but, yes, he completely forgets sometimes. And the best one he's probably got is Wood Duck, or the other one is if someone's got a headgear on, he just calls them the Helmet. He's got the Helmet. LAUGHTER Wasn't he trying to buy Nelson a sophomore? LAUGHTER

Too good. Well, Ben, we really appreciate you giving up some time on this Sunday, mate. Your supporters are delighted and you boys should be as well. Let's hope it continues and it looks like you're on track to play some finals footy, which is great news for the club. Appreciate your time. No worries, guys. Appreciate you having me on. Good on you, mate. That's Ben Hunt, the St. George Illawarra Dragons captain.