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St George Illawarra coach Dean Young wants to get the best out of Ben Hunt and a four-game NRL player could be key.
St George Illawarra coach Dean Young is on a mission to get the best out of Ben Hunt and a four-game NRL hooker could be key.
Billy Brittain has played just two games with the Dragons - since arriving from South Sydney this year - and has been added to the bench to play Gold Coast on Friday.
While a big fan of the 26-year-old, Young's theory is Hunt needs to be spelled rather than play 80 minutes in the middle at hooker - which is where Brittain comes in.
"It's not easy in the middle when you're the size of Cam McInnes or Hunty and you've got 115kg bodies running at you for 80 minutes, it takes its toll on you," Young said on Thursday.
"If we can find Hunty a spell we can get even better footy out of him.
"He's playing some good footy at the moment but I think that'll even improve if we can find him a spell."
Brittain made his NRL debut for the Rabbitohs last season but played only the first two rounds for the Dragons in 20-minute stints from the bench.
He originally arrived on a four-week train and trial deal but he was so impressive the club signed him until the end of next year.
Young's theory is they may as well use him.
"He's everything I love in a player, he rocks up to work every day, he rips into his training and competes hard," Young said.
"I want to give Hunty a spell at some stage so Billy's earned the right through his training to come onto the interchange bench and show me what he's got."
It comes as Young makes it clear he's not giving away spots in the team to blood players for next year when there's still a mathematical chance they can play finals in 2020.
"At this present time I'll be picking the best available team to go out and win the game, I won't be looking towards the future," he said.
"Down the track my thoughts on that might change but mathematically we can still make the finals so I'll be picking the side that's going to do the job and give us the best chance for a win."
