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Matt Dufty re-signs until end of 2019

Life's Good

Coach
Messages
13,971
There’s a lot to like about Dufty. I think he’s got a few more weeks before he will be a key target in opposition game plans. I’m backing him to rise to the challenge with the likes of Hunt, Widdop & our forwards helping him along the way.
 

Frank Facer

First Grade
Messages
5,069
Those 2 tries that Dufty scored to night were brilliant. We have a lot of good players in this team, but I can see Dufty becoming a favourite especially with the youngsters. He is like what Steve Morris was to us in 79, even though Morris was a halfback.

I did say at the beginning of the season that Dufty could well become a crowd favourite and a bring crowds to their feet.

He is still improving. He has definitely add another dimension to our attack and provides us with X factor in attack too.

Myself and many others were calling for him to be picked at the beginning of last year and I think he has proven us all correct. I am loving it.
 
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Life's Good

Coach
Messages
13,971
Could well become a cult hero here. Exciting player and very marketable. When mini BennyV starts paying attention to footy, I can see him following young Dufty with great interest!

My 9 y/o was at a footy clinic run by Bronson Harrison today. He asked my son who his favourite Dragon was & he told him Dufty. I let him stay up & watch Dufty burn the Sharks. Great feeling.
 
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giboz71

First Grade
Messages
8,895
What a player he will be. He’s lucky to have Widdop and Hunt as his halves, not all young fullbacks have the benefit of first class halves to feed them.

Although he can do plenty on his own !
 

Frank Facer

First Grade
Messages
5,069
Better than Ponga
That statement should have had a question mark at the end of it.

I am a massive fan of Dufty, but right now I would have Ponga ahead of him. I think Ponga has a more complete game. His passing game looks to be better than Dufty's. That is no knock on Dufty. They both look like 2 of the most exciting players in the the comp and will continue to improve.

Ponga has also showed toughness. He could easily play 5/8 in first grade right now too. He is a very special athlete. He played Aussie Rules and was pursued by Brisbane Lions, so that helped him be good under the high ball and taking general play kicks of the full. He was also pursued by Qld Reds Rugby Union. He even won the under 13's national golf championship in 2010.

Ponga will probably be Qld's fullback by next year and for the next 10 years after that. Dufty will have a very hard time getting past Tom Trbojevic and Teddy to take the NSW jersey.
 
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BennyV

Referee
Messages
22,441
That statement should have had a question mark at the end of it.

I am a massive fan of Dufty, but right now I would have Ponga ahead of him. I think Ponga has a more complete game. His passing game looks to be better than Dufty's. That is no knock on Dufty. They both look like 2 of the most exciting players in the the comp and will continue to improve.

Ponga has also showed toughness. He could easily play 5/8 in first grade right now too. He is a very special athlete. He played Aussie Rules and was pursued by Brisbane Lions, so that helped him be good under the high ball and taking general play kicks of the full. He was also pursued by Qld Reds Rugby Union. He even won the under 13's national golf championship in 2010.

Ponga will probably be Qld's fullback by next year and for the next 10 years after that. Dufty will have a very hard time getting past Tom Trbojevic and Teddy to take the NSW jersey.
This discussion is going on in JA.
Dufty is playing very well in a dominant team with seasoned, mature leaders and making the most of opportunities.
Ponga is shining in a young, inexperienced team where a lot of the expectation is on him.

I’m pumped to have Dufty in our side, but there’s no comparison between the two.

Also, didn’t realise until last night that Tom Turbo is younger than Duff!
 
Messages
2,910
image.jpg

You can see the players love Dufty, especially the forwards.
I think we all saw last year our forwards busting thier bums to get us downfield and no one being able to score tries, this year we have the players and the talent, and Duftys pure speed, to capilitse on the forwards hard yards.
 

getsmarty

Immortal
Messages
33,485
duftym-18031542.jpg



How Dufty's greatest critic kept him at Dragons

Author
Dan Walsh
Timestamp
Mon 16 Apr 2018, 08:01 PM

Matt Dufty's biggest critic is the reason why the game's most in-form fullback is running around for the Dragons, despite ''a lot of interest'' from the Warriors before he had played a game of first grade.

Ahead of a showdown with Kiwi custodian Roger Tuivasa-Sheck in a bumper Friday night clash, Dufty has spoken for the first time on the Warriors' approach to him when he was still plying his trade in the Red V lower grades.

Despite carving up with 54 tries in 65 under 20 games, more than any player in the Holden Cup's history, Dufty was unsure where he stood with his junior club when the Warriors came calling.

Still just 20 and with star fullback Josh Dugan seemingly entrenched in the No.1 jumper, Dufty gave the approach serious consideration.

Until Ben Hornby, the then-SG Ball coach who demoted Dufty to 18th man duties the first game he coached him, made a call of his own.

''I was coming off an injury and was off contract at the Dragons and they hadn't talked to me, so my manager just said we'll go have a talk around," Dufty said.

Inside the NRL - Episode 6

''The Warriors showed a lot of interest because someone was injured over there. I thought it was a realistic thing but then Mary [coach Paul McGregor] and Benny Hornby came up to me and said 'there's no way we're letting you go'. That was probably the best thing that's ever happened to me.

''I was a bit worried and I didn't know if the Dragons wanted me or not. I was still in 20s … your career's definitely not set in stone then. I didn't know what to think but obviously it all worked out in the end.''

Dugan joined the Sharks this season and Dufty has made the fullback spot his own, with a contract extension landing before a ball was kicked this year and six tries for the season - second best in the NRL.

Hornby, who wore the same No.1 with distinction for half his own storied Red V career, ranks as one of Dufty's oldest mentors and is still in his ear now as an assistant to McGregor.

It's a relationship the 22-year-old is clearly fond of, which famously started with Hornby dropping the youngster back in 2013 when his attitude had got beyond his 17-year-old boots.

''Inside the club he's my biggest critic,'' Dufty grins.

''He tells me everything I do wrong, he has no problem saying it. That's the type of relationship we have.

''But he even said today he's over the moon for me and he's really happy and he just wants to see me keep getting better. That means a lot having someone in my corner like that.

"Besides my parents he definitely criticises me a lot, from a good place.''







https://www.nrl.com/news/2018/04/16...ufty-couldve-joined-the-new-zealand-warriors/
 
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