It's the thought that counts. Ben Hunt won't exactly soothe the angst of Penrith fans but concedes the Panthers were unlucky not to have a try awarded when Corey Oates was knocked out in their elimination final.
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The Broncos won 13-6 last Friday night, with one of the turning points arriving midway through the first half after Oates was knocked unconscious following a collision with teammate Anthony Milford.
Penrith pounced on the loose ball and raced away ready to score before referee Gerard Sutton halted play to attend to the injured Oates, who was driven off the field on a stretcher.
The NRL were quick to back the call and referees are within their rights to call a stop to play if they believe a player has suffered a serious injury. But Hunt was sympathetic to their vanquished finals foe, saying he would have understood if play was allowed to continue.
"It's a tough one. I think in that instance against Penrith it probably should have been play on. Play was going away from where he was," Hunt said.
"If it's around where someone is knocked out and the players are coming towards you then obviously they need to stop it because someone is in danger.
"It's definitely a tough one. I can see why the referees pulled it up straight away. You could tell he was in a bad place and they just wanted to help him, but at the same time if I was Penrith I would have been pretty upset about that."
Panthers coach Anthony Griffin didn't make a huge deal out of the incident but Penrith fans were perplexed by the decision. But while it may have deprived them of first half points, they had more than enough opportunities to make Brisbane pay.
Hunt has shown his quality since moving to hooker in place of the injured Andrew McCullough and rated his effort against Penrith as the best since his shift.
He now squares off with his Maroons Origin skipper Cameron Smith, who he rates as one of the three greatest players he's seen in his career.
"Him, Johnathan Thurston and Smith are far and away the top-three best I have ever seen. And apart from him, Melbourne have been the best team all year," Hunt said.
"It will be a pretty big challenge for us to get the win. We have a lot to worry about."
Defeat would see Hunt end his career at Brisbane. He will move to the Dragons from next season where he hopes to return to the No.7 jersey under coach Paul McGregor, although his form at hooker has given his new coach some options.
