Benjamin Hannant (born 31 December 1984), also known by the

nickname A nickname, in some circumstances also known as a sobriquet, or informally a "moniker", is an informal substitute for the proper name of a person, place, or thing, used to express affection, playfulness, contempt, or a particular character trait ...

of "Polar Bear", is a former Australian

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

footballer and boxer. A

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

State of Origin and Australian international representative prop-forward, he played in the

National Rugby League The National Rugby League (also known as the NRL Telstra Premiership for sponsorship reasons) is a professional rugby league competition in Oceania which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria (state), Victoria, the Austral ...

for the

North Queensland Cowboys The North Queensland Cowboys is an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Townsville, the largest city in North Queensland. They compete in Australia's premier rugby league competition, the National Rugby League (NRL). Sinc ...

Brisbane Broncos The Brisbane Broncos are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Red Hill, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland. Founded in April 1987, the Broncos compete in the National Rugby League (NRL) and play their home games at ...

Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs The Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Belmore, a suburb in the Canterbury-Bankstown region of Sydney. They compete in the NRL Telstra Premiership, as well as competitions facilitated by ...

and

Sydney Roosters Eastern Suburbs District Rugby League Football Club, known as the Sydney Roosters are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Sydney's Eastern Suburbs (Sydney), Eastern Suburbs. The club competes in the National Rugby Lea ...

. Hannant is a two-time premiership winner and the only player to have won NRL titles with two Queensland teams ( Broncos in 2006 and the Cowboys in 2015).

Background

Born and raised on the

Gold Coast, Queensland The Gold Coast, also known by its initials, GC, is a coastal city and region in the state of Queensland, Australia, located approximately south-southeast of the centre of the list of Australian capital cities, state capital, Brisbane. It is ...

, Hannant played his junior rugby league for the

Burleigh Bears The Burleigh Bears are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Gold Coast, Australia. They compete in Queensland's top rugby league competition, the Queensland Cup. Since their admission to the competition in 1997, the ...

. In 2002, while attending

Palm Beach Currumbin State High School Palm Beach Currumbin State High School is an independent public, co-educational, secondary school, located in the Gold Coast suburb of Palm Beach, in Queensland, Australia. It is administered by the Department of Education, with an enrolment ...

, he represented the Australian Schoolboys team. As of November 2016, Hannant co-hosts Gold Coast's SEA FM Breakfast show.

Playing career

Sydney Roosters

Hannant made his

NRL The National Rugby League (also known as the NRL Telstra Premiership for sponsorship reasons) is a professional rugby league competition in Oceania which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria (state), Victoria, the Austral ...

debut with the

in 2005, playing a handful of games for the club. He played in the Roosters' Premier League grand final winning side in 2004 before being signed by the

for the 2006 season.

Brisbane Broncos

In late 2005, Hannant moved to the Broncos for the 2006 season. He went on to play from the interchange bench in Brisbane's victory in the

2006 NRL Grand Final The 2006 NRL Grand Final was the conclusive and premiership-deciding match of the NRL's 2006 Telstra Premiership season. It was played between the first-placed Melbourne Storm and the third-placed Brisbane Broncos clubs on the night of Sunday, ...

. The retirement of

Shane Webcke Shane Webcke (born 28 September 1974) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer, who spent his entire club career playing for the Brisbane Broncos. Webcke represented Queensland in the State of Origin 21 times and also capta ...

following the grand final left some large shoes to be filled in the Broncos' front row. As 2006 NRL Premiers, the Brisbane Broncos travelled to England to face 2006

Super League Super League (also known as the Betfred Super League for sponsorship reasons, and legally Super League Europe Ltd.) is a professional rugby league competition, and the highest level of the British rugby league system, which consists of twelve t ...

champions,

St Helens R.F.C. St Helens R.F.C., commonly known as Saints, is a professional rugby league club in St Helens, Merseyside, England. Founded in 1873, the club is one of the oldest members of the Rugby Football League, and one of the most successful clubs in its ...

in the

2007 World Club Challenge The 2007 Carnegie World Club Challenge was played between Super League XI champions, St. Helens and 2006 National Rugby League premiers, the Brisbane Broncos. It was a replay of the 2001 World Club Challenge, and both clubs' fifth WCC appear ...

. Hannant played from the interchange bench in the Broncos' 14–18 loss. Hannant was selected for the

Queensland Maroons The Queensland rugby league team represents the Australian state of Queensland in rugby league football. Nicknamed the "Maroons" after the colour of their jersey, they play three times a year against arch-rivals New South Wales rugby league tea ...

in 2008 and scored his first try in Game 2 at

Suncorp Stadium Brisbane Stadium (Lang Park), currently known as Suncorp Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a multi-purpose stadium in the suburb of Milton, Queensland, Milton, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. Nicknamed The Cauldron, it is a three-tiered rect ...

, which Queensland won 30–0. In May 2008, Hannant signed a three-year deal with Sydney-based club, the

Bulldogs The Bulldog is a British breed of dog of mastiff type. It may also be known as the English Bulldog or British Bulldog. It is a stocky, muscular dog of medium size, with a large head, thick folds of skin around the face and shoulders and a rel ...

, commencing in 2009. Ben Hannant Bulldogs

Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs

On 8 June 2009 it was announced that Hannant had contracted the

H1N1 virus Influenza A virus subtype H1N1 (A/H1N1) is a subtype of influenza A virus (IAV). Some human-adapted strains of H1N1 are endemic in humans and are one cause of seasonal influenza (flu). Other strains of H1N1 are endemic in pigs (swine influenza ...

, the first case in professional sports Hannant represented Australia on 25 October 2009 in Australia's opening

2009 Four Nations The 2009 Rugby League Four Nations tournament (officially known as the Gillette Four Nations due to sponsorship) was the first Rugby League Four Nations since its expansion from the Tri-Nations tournament. Played in England and France over three ...

match against New Zealand in which Hannant played as the starting Prop. He also played in the tournament final on 13 November 2009 as the starting prop against England. It was a 46–16 win to Australia. Hannant's 2009 form drew praise from critics with

New Zealand Warriors The Warriors are a professional rugby league football club based in Auckland, New Zealand that competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership and is the League's only team from outside Australia. They were formed in 1995 as the Aucklan ...

captain and representative prop Steve Price nominating Hannant as the best prop currently playing. On 25 May 2010 it was announced Hannant would re-join the Broncos on a four-year deal starting in 2011 after he was granted an early release by the Canterbury club.

Return to the Broncos

Hannant missed the start of the 2011 Brisbane Broncos season with a calf injury but returned in round 3 against the

Gold Coast Titans The Gold Coast Titans are a professional rugby league football club, based on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. The club competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership, Australia's elite rugby league competition. Since 2008, the ...

. Hannant returned to form after a man of the match display against his former club and was selected in the Australia and Queensland representative teams where he played off the bench. The latter half of the season saw a drop in form for Hannant, resulting in exclusion from the Four Nations series. In 2012, Hannant opened the season strong with a man of the match performance against Parramatta.

North Queensland Cowboys

On 7 October 2014, Hannant signed with the

on a one-year deal for the 2015 season. In round 7 of the

2015 NRL season The 2015 NRL season was the 108th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 18th season of the National Rugby League in Australia and New Zealand. The season started in New Zealand with the annual Auckland Nines, which was followe ...

, Hannant played his 200th NRL game in North Queensland's 28–24 victory over the

. Hannant came off the bench for North Queensland in the

2015 NRL Grand Final The 2015 NRL Grand Final was the conclusive and premiership-deciding game of the 2015 NRL season and was played on Sunday 4 October at Sydney's ANZ Stadium between the Brisbane Broncos and North Queensland Cowboys. North Queensland won the ma ...

against the

, and played 38 minutes in the Cowboys' 17-16 Premiership win. On 21 February 2016, Hannant was a member of the Cowboys'

World Club Challenge The World Club Challenge is an annual rugby league competition between the winners of the Australian National Rugby League and the British Super League, for the de facto club world championship of the sport. Super League sides have won the c ...

winning side, coming off the bench in the side's 38–4 victory over the

Leeds Rhinos The Leeds Rhinos are a professional rugby league club in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The club play their home games at Headingley Rugby Stadium, AMT Headingley Rugby Stadium and compete in the Super League, the top tier of British rugby lea ...

Headingley Stadium Headingley Stadium is a stadium complex in Headingley, Leeds, West Yorkshire, and England. Linked by a two-sided stand housing common facilities, it comprises two separate grounds: Headingley Cricket Ground (home of Yorkshire County Cricket Clu ...

. In November 2016, it was announced Hannant had re-signed with North Queensland on a one-year-contract extension. Two weeks later, on 17 November, he was forced to retire due to a chronic knee injury. Despite the injury and forced retirement, Hannant was quite durable for the Cowboys in his two seasons with the club. Out of a possible 55 games, Hannant played 52 – including the 17–16 win against the Brisbane Broncos in the 2015 NRL Grand Final.

Coming Out of Retirement

A year after retiring, it was announced he would come out of retirement and play for the

in the

Intrust Super Cup The Queensland Cup, currently known as the Hostplus Cup for sponsorship reasons, is the highest-level regional rugby league football competition in Queensland, Australia. It is run by the Queensland Rugby League (QRL) and is contested by fif ...

Achievements and accolades

Individual

Dally M The Dally M Awards are the official annual player awards for the National Rugby League competition. As well as honouring the player of the year, who received the Dally M Medal, awards are also given to the premier player in each position, the be ...

Prop of the Year: 2009 * Brisbane Broncos Most Improved: 2007

Team

* 2004 NSWRL Premier League Grand Final:

– Winner *

– Winner * 2016 World Club Challenge:

– Winners

Statistics

NRL

: ''Statistics are correct to the end of the 2015 season''

State of Origin

International

Radio career

It was announced on 21 November 2016 that Hannant would be embarking on a radio career in 2017.

Southern Cross Austereo Southern Cross Media Group Limited, Trade name, doing business as Southern Cross Austereo, is an Australian media company which operates broadcast radio and Terrestrial television, television stations. It is the largest radio broadcaster in Au ...

revealed that Hannant would co-present a new breakfast program on

Sea FM Sea FM was an Australian radio network, consisting of stations in Queensland and NSW owned by Southern Cross Austereo. Some Sea FM stations were later sold to meet media ownership requirements. Prime Television Limited purchased Sea FM Towns ...

on the Gold Coast called ''Get Up with Heather, Dan & Ben''. Hannant will be co-hosting the show with experienced radio announcer

Dan Anstey Dan Anstey (born 19 December 1984 in Brisbane, Queensland), is an Australians, Australian Radio presenter, radio and television presenter. He is currently host of ''Triple M Brisbane, Triple M Breakfast'' in Brisbane, weather presenter on Weeke ...

and former '' The Bachelor'' contestant Heather Maltman. Hannant stated that he is likely to be comfortable in a radio show environment, comparing it to a locker room situation where people sit around having a

yarn Yarn is a long continuous length of interlocked fibres, used in sewing, crocheting, knitting, weaving, embroidery, ropemaking, and the production of textiles. '' Thread'' is a type of yarn intended for sewing by hand or machine. Modern ...

Personal life

Hannant is one of 11 children and is a member of

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Restorationism, restorationist Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, denomination and the ...

. Hannant and his wife Emma have eight children, four sons and four daughters. Their eighth child was born in December 2019 named Pippa Elizabeth

References

External links

North Queensland Cowboys profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hannant, Ben 1984 births Living people Australian male boxers Australia national rugby league team players Australian Latter Day Saints Australian rugby league players Brisbane Broncos players Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs players North Queensland Cowboys players NRL All Stars players Prime Minister's XIII players Queensland Rugby League State of Origin players Rugby league players from the Gold Coast, Queensland Rugby league props Sydney Roosters players People educated at Palm Beach Currumbin State High School 21st-century Australian sportsmen