Ben Hunt gets crack at leading Brisbane Broncos Brisbane Broncos halfback Ben Hunt admits he was shocked to learn he had been promoted to the No.7 jersey for the clash with North Queensland. THIRTY minutes of Ben Hunt magic ensured Broncos coach Anthony Griffin promoted the former teen prodigy to lead their improbable finals charge. It had been an 18-month wait for Hunt to crack the Broncos starting team. He signed his first scholarship with Brisbane aged 13 and recently re-signed with the club for a further two years. Friday looms as his long-awaited arrival as an NRL halfback after he was crowned 2008 under-20s player of the year. First he battled Corey Norman in the 2012 pre-season for Darren Lockyer's revered No.6 jersey. Norman was preferred at five-eighth. Ben Hunt at Brisbane Broncos training at Red Hill in Brisbane. With Norman moved to fullback for this year, Hunt battled Scott Prince last pre-season for the five-eighth jersey again. Prince was preferred at five-eighth. After all that, Hunt finds himself wearing the No.7 jersey against North Queensland with good friend Peter Wallace demoted to the bench and Norman playing for Wynnum Manly. It was a star cameo against the Cronulla Sharks in the Broncos' last game, a 19-18 loss that made Hunt's selection at half a must. The 23-year-old came on in the second stanza against the Sharks and immediately made a superb try-saving tackle on Sharks forward Tyrone Peachey just when it looked like Cronulla was over the line. Less than 60 seconds later he spotted an opportunity on the short-side and created the Broncos' first try with a deft short-ball that confused Todd Carney and left a yawning gap for Josh Hoffman to run into. It was Brisbane's first try in 167 minutes of football. The Broncos and Cowboys are tackled in the opposition 20-metre zone more than any club in the competition, proving that an inability to convert opportunity to points is a major reason for their slide down the ladder. In Townsville on Friday night, Hunt's vision is crucial to the Broncos' hopes of an upset and start an unlikely winning streak to sneak into the finals. Hunt, a reserved character who grew up in Rockhampton playing alongside Dave Taylor, said his performance against the Sharks was among his best this year. "I think it had something to do with this (promotion)," Hunt said. I thought it was one of my best games of the year. I'm just happy mate. It feels good. It is not definite that I'm staying there though. Hook has given me a chance and now I have to repay him. I had a couple of chances here and there and I want to stay here now. I know if I don't play good footy Peter Wallace will be straight back in. We are good mates and while it is good for me it is hard for Peter. I got a shock. He came in on Monday and read the team list out. You could say it is a bit of a throw of the dice but everyone is positive around this club. I think this will be a good. Hunt said his tendency to drift in and out of the game and make simple errors had hurt his starting chances previously. "I wasn't composed enough," he said. I cut the errors out of my game. I was forcing the pass. The Broncos have a chance to take a rare positive out of their season on Friday night. The club could create a derby sweep after posting two wins over the Gold Coast Titans this year and beating the Cowboys at Suncorp Stadium in April.