If Ben Hunt were to retire today, he'd have had a Hall-of-Fame career. By the time he actually does call time, there'll be simply no room for argument.
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He recently notched his 300th NRL game. Should he see out the rest of his contract, it's conceivable that only Cameron Smith will have played more. He's played 15 Origins, is nudging a fourth series win, and has won two World Cups with Australia.
On his entire body of work, his HOF case is a slam dunk. Does he qualify as a Dragons great? that's harder to say.
He's given his absolute all in the Dragons jumper but, barring some miracle in the next two years, fans simply won't look back on his time at the club with fondness. Like most things throughout his time in Wollongong, it's not his fault, but it's a fact.
It's one of the strangest things about the 33-year-old's roller coaster career. How does someone so well-liked, so unassuming, so fundamentally decent, who's only ever played the game the way it should be played, have such a complicated legacy?
This columnist spoke at length with the Dragons skipper about that conundrum before the season kicked off as he entered the final year of the mammoth six-year deal he inked with the club ahead of 2018.
Those questions have only become more pressing given the sacking of Anthony Griffin and the accompanying whispers that Hunt now wants out of the joint despite inking a two-year extension at the end of last year.
The club knocked back a request to have the deal contractually hinge on Griffin remaining head coach but, in the scheme of things, it means little. Given there'll always be interest in quality play-makers, which Hunt undeniably is, there'll always be rivals with a keen nose for discontent.
While such fierce loyalty to a mate is admirable, it's not hard to see why Hunt's oft-stated loyalty to Griffin put some fans' noses out of joint. Griffin's tenure was a disaster, fans were understandably averse to any suggestion it should continue.
Likewise, fans of a club that has forked out $6.5 million for one trip to the finals in six years - and added another $1.6 or so to keep a guy there - are entitled to suggest he should play for whomever he's told to.
Griffin's contract only ever ran to the end of 2023. Hunt was aware of that fact and, you would think, aware the odds of the coach's sacking were much shorter than the odds of a contract extension.
The smart money was always on precisely what has transpired, yet Hunt signed the deal anyway.
On the flip-side, while he's largely adored by fans these days, there's an element of recency bias. For his part, Hunt hasn't forgotten a time when he was the Red V faithful's favourite punching bag.
He told this columnist in March that "it still feels like yesterday." No one's more attuned to the fickle nature of rugby league fandom. You could certainly forgive him for not making a decision based on fan sentiment.
A lot was made of his comments earlier this season that he "doesn't really have time" for a rebuild. It raised eyebrows given he'd just re-signed with a club clearly in the midst of one.
Still, there was an inescapable truth in those comments. At 33, Hunt doesn't have the time it will take the Dragons to return to premiership reckoning to waste.
It seems loyalty to Griffin meant he was willing to give the relationship every chance, including signing a contract extension, but the reality is time's running out.
If he doesn't get to the mountaintop by the time he's done, he'll have played by far the most NRL games without a premiership. It's not a distinction any player would want, let alone one of the game's great competitors.
It could all get smoothed over very quickly when the next coach arrives. Become a moot point even.
It's something all parties would be hoping for, but it might not be so simple. Whispers have emerged that, regardless of who's appointed coach, Hunt will seek to leave the club if he's not guaranteed to play halfback.
Some might recall that the final straw of Paul McGregor's tenure came when he had team selection taken out of his hands, with the weekly 17 determined by a 'selection committee'.
It included the two presently leading candidates for the Dragons job in Shane Flanagan and Dean Young. This column doesn't claim to know where they sat in that regard, but Hunt did end up playing hooker through that period.
On present form, Hunt's best position for the Dragons is in the halves alongside Jayden Sullivan, with Talatau Amone working on his game in the reserves. There's no guarantee that will remain the case for the next two and a half years.
Hunt's probably entitled to spend the remainder of his career in his preferred position, but the Dragons are not a club in a position to guarantee it. Any coach appointed to drag the club out of the doldrums can't be given anything but absolute authority. That includes team selection.
There's been no more wholehearted player but if - and only if - his whole heart is no longer with the club, then that conversation will need to be had.
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Mitch Jennings
Sports writer. Sport is my passion, rugby league my first love.
Sports writer. Sport is my passion, rugby league my first love.
