Too often Ben Hunt had been used as a rugby league punchline.

One moment on rugby league’s biggest stage went awry, and it followed him like the plague for seven years, even when he switched clubs and shone for Queensland.

So few, whether they were in maroon or sky blue, could begrudge the Queensland hooker this moment.

Hunt secured Queensland a State of Origin series victory against the odds when he intercepted a Nathan Cleary kick and outran the NSW chasers en route to the try line. It was a big-time play, the kind they’ll talk about forever. The kind of moment that will replace a dropped ball in a grand final when they talk about the fella from Rockhampton on the big stage.

The kind of play that came as no surprise to Billy Slater, the rookie coach who has masterminded an unlikely Origin triumph akin to Arthur Beetson’s unlikely heroes and the so-called nobodies of 1995 and 2020.

“He’s just got that in him, hasn’t he? If someone is going to come up with a play like that, it’s going to be Ben Hunt,” Slater said of Hunt, who also kicked a crucial 40-20 in Origin III.

“He’s been the Ron McAuliffe medallist twice in the past three series before this one. He really earned that starting spot playing a different position than he does every week for the Dragons.

“He was out on his feet halfway through that second half, he was one of those guys in the middle doing all that work. We needed to give him a rest and we feel if we didn’t give him a rest, he may not have got there in the end. What a performance – he’s one of the greatest competitors our game has seen.”