Incoming St George Illawarra coach Shane Flanagan has revealed details of the “positive” meeting he had with Ben Hunt and the Dragons brass, as the Brisbane Broncos suggested they are pulling out of the race to sign him.

It was in that Monday morning meeting that Hunt was able to air his grievances and frustrations with the direction of the Dragons before being told by the club they would not be granting his request for a mid-season release.

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Flanagan said he understood Hunt’s position, but after the 90-minute meeting, the former Sharks coach thinks the chances of the star playmaker staying in the Red V have increased.

“It was a real positive meeting from the club’s perspective and hopefully from Ben,’’ Flanagan told 2GB.

“There was a lot of frustration from Ben and you look at the competition table and you can understand where the frustration comes from.

“Ben’s a winner, he wants the club to do well and he’s been frustrated over the last couple of years. Obviously he lost a person that was close to him in Anthony Griffin (former Dragons coach) as a mentor, which affected Ben.

“He had some frustrations that he pointed out to the club and both of us walked out of there pretty positive.

“Ben said he had some concerns about the club moving forward and some issues in the past and we addressed those today.”

His comments came before Tuesday afternoon when the Broncos released a statement saying they will now “move on”.

“Ben is contracted to the Dragons and we respect that and we move on,” Brisbane Broncos chief Dave Donaghy said. “We are really happy with the squad we have here at the Broncos.

“They’ve been doing a great job and our focus as a club is solely on this week’s battle against Redcliffe at the Gabba.”

Hunt will line up and remain as Dragons captain for this Thursday’s clash against the Sharks.

Flanagan believes the Queensland and Australia representative always wanted to play during the contract stand-off whilst he was still a Dragon.

“Ben’s priorities are his teammates. He was clear on wanting to play this week,” Flanagan said.

“He wanted to go to training today and I was really impressed by his approach today.

“I see him as a big part of what we’re going to do next year. I thought today was really productive.”

Flanagan’s comments came as The Courier Mail’s Peter Badel confirmed Hunt would be a Brisbane Bronco had the Dragons fulfilled the 33-year-old’s wish to be released from his contract a year-and-a-half early.

Badel said the Broncos are “dead keen” to have Hunt back at Red Hill - the place he began his NRL career and spent nine years at.

“I can tell you emphatically, it was 100 per cent accurate that the Broncos are interested, it’s now all dependent on what the Dragons do,” Badel said on SEN 1170 The Run Home.

“Obviously we heard that the Dragons are digging their heels in and won’t let release Hunt, as they’re entitled to do because he’s under contract.

“If the Dragons eventually agree to finally, reluctantly let him go, he will be at the Broncos for the rest of the season.”