Hannant desperate to make his mark - Sports News - Fanatics - the world's biggest events

Hannant desperate to make his mark

By Wayne Heming 01/11/2010 05:42:36 PM Comments (0)

Ben Hannant returned to the Broncos on Monday declaring his intention to place his name alongside the great frontrowers who've left an indelible mark in the club's history.

After a 31-game detour with the Bulldogs for the past two NRL seasons, the 25-year-old representative prop is back at the Broncos a far more polished player and he's ready to finish the job he started as apprentice to Shane Webcke and Petero Civoniceva in 2006.

"There's a lot of history at this club with a lot of great forwards and I want to live up to the expectation of that," Hannant said after Brisbane's first official day of pre-season training.

Still under treatment for a strained Achilles and ankle injuries, Hannant said the experience gained from a more prominent role with the Bulldogs meant he was returning home a better footballer.

"Definitely ... I really enjoyed the responsibility in Sydney of learning and growing into a senior player and that's something I'm excited about bringing back to this club," said Hannant, whose first Brisbane stint lasted 69 games.

"I had the same expectation when I went down to Sydney and played with a team (the Bulldogs) that was struggling in the front row.

"I was a young kid coming through, just starting rep football and I really enjoyed the responsibility of leading the pack around.

"There's a lot of experience in this (Brisbane) pack with (Shane) Tronc and Nick Kenny and then you've got the back row of Sam Thaiday and Corey Parker who've got a ton of experience between them.

"We have to make sure we stay consistent and dominate in the middle.

"We've got a long time to get that right because we don't start playing until February-March so we can build a good tight bond within the forwards and be firing by then."

Brisbane have battled to find a consistent prop who can play quality minutes and dominate the way Webcke (263 games), Civoniceva (217), Glenn Lazarus (137) and Andrew Gee (279) did during their prime when the six-time premiers experienced some of their greatest victories.

Since Civoniceva left for Penrith and Hannant joined the struggling Bulldogs, Brisbane have not been able to dominate up front like they once did.

Hannant's return, along with the addition of star Melbourne recruit Greg Inglis, gives Brisbane a definite premiership look in 2010 with their young players having benefited from 2010 when their development was pushed along quicker than expected.

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