Pair’s strong bond boon for Maroons
ANDREW McCullough reckons he has a sixth sense connection with Ben Hunt.
It started in 2001 when the budding young footy players first confronted each other as schoolboys standouts.
A year later they were Queensland under-12s teammates. From there, legendary Broncos scout Cyril Connell added the duo to his stable of future NRL stars.
The McCullough and Hunt story has twisted through the dusty fields of Dalby, 200km west of Brisbane, and Dingo in central Queensland, to the Broncos’ famous Red Hill home and even a city watchhouse. At the famous Melbourne Cricket Ground next Wednesday, they will play State of Origin for Queensland together for the first time when McCullough makes his debut as Cameron Smith’s successor and Hunt steps up to the Maroons’ No.7 jersey.
“It’s crazy to be reunited,” McCullough said. “It started back in 2001 as two schoolboys playing against each other and with each other.
“I was playing for the Darling Downs, and he was playing for Capricornia.
“I was in the centres and he was halfback then.
“Then in 2002, we made the Queensland team and he was halfback and I was fullback. We were 12 years old.
“Seventeen years later, we are putting on a Maroons jersey together and running on to the MCG. It’s surreal.”
McCullough and Hunt, both 28, have amassed 424 NRL appearances between them with little fuss.
But a night in June 2011, remains a small blip on two otherwise excellent careers.
Then 21, McCullough and Hunt, who joined St GeorgeIllawarra this season, were locked up in a Brisbane watchhouse for public nuisance.
“It adds to the story of me and Ben,” McCullough said.
“We haven’t always been straight down the line characters, but what happened that night was a reality check to appreciate what we do for a living, and not take our careers for granted.”
Hunt said it was the wakeup call he needed.
“You realise how lucky you are to be where you are. You have to really enjoy it and be the best you can,” he said.
McCullough will make his Queensland debut following the retirement of Maroons skipper Smith, Origin’s most capped player after 42 matches and a legend of the game.
Hunt, in his second Origin, steps into the No.7 jersey vacated by Test halfback Cooper Cronk, a chief architect in Queensland’s three straight series wins.
The stakes are high but McCullough and Hunt feel their bond can help Queensland maintain its Origin dominance after the representative retirements of Smith, Cronk and Johnathan Thurston.
“We’ve played a lot together and I know what he wants and when he wants the ball,” McCullough said.
“We do (have sense).”
WE HAVEN’T ALWAYS BEEN STRAIGHT DOWN THE LINE CHARACTERS, BUT WHAT HAPPENED THAT NIGHT WAS A REALITY CHECK TO APPRECIATE WHAT WE DO FOR A LIVING...
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