Matt Dufty

[The Damo]

so many things i want to say ...

13 try breakout season - yes he had a full season and scored 13 tries. But still the rate he scored against full strength top 8 sides is down. He scored 2 tries against full strength top 8 sides. Round 5 vs Bunnies and the last try in the destruction of the broncos. His ability to exploit a broken/weakened defensive line is not in question .. The assumption that he will get that frequently though is unlikely.

Instincts - again, confusing speed with instinct is a massive miss. Quinlan had the better instinct but not the speed to go with it. The easiest measure on this is his line breaks off forwards. The vast majority of his line breaks are either self driven ie running around in a fractured line or set piece blocks plays of Widdop. The number of times blokes like Sims/Friz/DB were tackled at the line without support from him was massive. He knows where to be in a set piece but rarely is putting himself in the right position otherwise. The kick chase vs the eels was an exception to this but was that off him or was it widdop calling the play? Whose instincts came to the fore.

He is a player that will get you close to the 8 but he is not a player that will win you that tough close game against a full strength team. He is too easy for smart teams to contain/exploit.

What ISP will teach him and what he needs is this
1. Attacking and contesting the bomb
2. Supporting the forwards looking for the offloads
3. Tackling opposition players one on one

He will get all that in ISP.

I agree with all that - I’d just add that he also showed glimpses of good ball playing skills, but didn’t attempt to use them anywhere near often enough. That’s at least partly due to coaching/structures but also vision/instincts were lacking. Those are also areas that can be developed in ISP.

 

[possm]

I agree with all that - I’d just add that he also showed glimpses of good ball playing skills, but didn’t attempt to use them anywhere near often enough. That’s at least partly due to coaching/structures but also vision/instincts were lacking. Those are also areas that can be developed in ISP.

Look I don't completely lay all the blame at Dufty's feet. I am sure Mary's instructions for him to not attempt to scoot out of this 20 on ball returns and to pass the ball at every opportunity when fielding the ball close to the try-line or sideline.

I also would not be surprised if Mary was partly responsible for the Aitken poor performances i.e. run up and cut off the ball early and the use of the compressed defence defensive structure.

 

[watatank]

Dropping Dufty back to ISP to work on his weaknesses is stupid. He's either good enough or he's not.

 

[possm]

Dropping Dufty back to ISP to work on his weaknesses is stupid. He's either good enough or he's not.

I imagine the Cowboys had their reasons for not chasing Dufty and went for Kahu instead.

 

[Crush]

I imagine the Cowboys had their reasons for not chasing Dufty and went for Kahu instead.

Or maybe they did chase Dufty but Dufty wants to stay at the club he loves? Maybe he didn't want to move to a town in North Queensland.
Without the facts you cannot make these kinds of assumptions.

 

[watatank]

I would imagine the Cowboys would be interested in Kahu because they are looking at someone for just this year. Kahu is off contract and won't play unless there's injuries so that works for him. Dufty could also do that I suppose but he would probably want to sign a long term deal if he was to move to North QLD

 

[BLM01]

Or maybe they did chase Dufty but Dufty wants to stay at the club he loves? Maybe he didn't want to move to a town in North Queensland.
Without the facts you cannot make these kinds of assumptions.

Or just maybe Cowboys didnt even chase Dufty at all. Kahu is a goal kicker they need.

 

[getsmarty]

I imagine the Cowboys had their reasons for not chasing Dufty and went for Kahu instead.

Yep..he is still under contract for this year for starters. Secondly, the club wants to keep him.

 

[Crush]

Or just maybe Cowboys didnt even chase Dufty at all. Kahu is a goal kicker they need.

Highly possible, in fact most likely.
But my point is that you can't say things like "I imagine Cowboys had their reasons for not chasing Dufty" as we the public have absolutley no idea what happens behind closed doors.
In Possm's head he thinks cowboys didn't chase dufty because of his deficiencies, the same ones he keeps saying Dufty should be dropped for to ISP. Because that suits his beliefs. He sees Kahu getting chased and thinks to himself OHH must be because Dufty isnt good enough. But we actually have no idea what happens in the background.

 

[BLM01]

Highly possible, in fact most likely.
But my point is that you can't say things like "I imagine Cowboys had their reasons for not chasing Dufty" as we the public have absolutley no idea what happens behind closed doors.
In Possm's head he thinks cowboys didn't chase dufty because of his deficiencies, the same ones he keeps saying Dufty should be dropped for to ISP. Because that suits his beliefs. He sees Kahu getting chased and thinks to himself OHH must be because Dufty isnt good enough. But we actually have no idea what happens in the background.

Hey...I agree with you. You have read my posts on Dufty before adnauseum and I dont need to keep defending him out of frustration. I have said my view and stand by it.
I know others keep wanting to bag him repeatedly about the same thing but that is their right too!
Look on the bright side....Least he hasnt got to the Mary record of nearly 10,000 posts that want him gone!

 

[LINESPEED]

I imagine the Cowboys had their reasons for not chasing Dufty and went for Kahu instead.

Hopefully Matt just wants to play for the famous Dragons - you know, good old fashioned loyalty, which seems to be in short supply courtesy of the probable urgings of greedy player managers who’ve probably screwed over a few careers IMO.

And just BTW, if our coach selected astutely on form & obvious potential - with the intent of varying game day strategies according to the opposition of the day, there wouldn’t be much contention on this forum.

Was there much bitching on this forum about Bennett’s selections for example?

I just wonder how many other coaches would have Latimore, Lafai, Pereira & Aitken in their team for Rd1?

 

[MILEY CYRUS]

Or just maybe Cowboys didnt even chase Dufty at all. Kahu is a goal kicker they need.

Kyle Feldt...

 

[BLM01]

Kyle Feldt...

It is called back up..injury!..and Feldt is not that a prolific goal kicker anyway.
He might be able to but how accurate. He can kick towering bombs from a cone and kick a long way + they are losing their back up in Ethan Lowe.

 

[nontime111]

Dufty is smart...... he knows that ONE injury will have him back in the team and if not an injury he will be here next year as our star FB!
Carving it up in a team led round the park by two world class slick and snappy halves , the kid WILL be back and he knows it, he obviously backs himself too...GO MATT!!! GO DRAGONS were on the verge of GREATNESS and he can smell it!

 

[GC Dragon]

Highly possible, in fact most likely.
But my point is that you can't say things like "I imagine Cowboys had their reasons for not chasing Dufty" as we the public have absolutley no idea what happens behind closed doors.
In Possm's head he thinks cowboys didn't chase dufty because of his deficiencies, the same ones he keeps saying Dufty should be dropped for to ISP. Because that suits his beliefs. He sees Kahu getting chased and thinks to himself OHH must be because Dufty isnt good enough. But we actually have no idea what happens in the background.

Also the fact that they have a $5m 5 year deal waiting for Holmes when he returns . That's why Barba was only a one year fill in . Kahu can play centre and wing when they get Holmes . So a young specialist fullback wanting a multi year deal wasn't on there radar at all .

 

[MILEY CYRUS]

It is called back up..injury!..and Feldt is not that a prolific goal kicker anyway.
He might be able to but how accurate. He can kick towering bombs from a cone and kick a long way + they are losing their back up in Ethan Lowe.

Jake Clifford...

 

[DragonJ]

It is called back up..injury!..and Feldt is not that a prolific goal kicker anyway.
He might be able to but how accurate. He can kick towering bombs from a cone and kick a long way + they are losing their back up in Ethan Lowe.

There was likely never any interest in Dufty. He is a good player but fullbacks who get rag-dolled when the defence gets hold of them aren't popular in the NRL. He needs to change something. Maybe the way he runs or take a few months off, away from drug testers and try some human growth hormone.

 

[BLM01]

There was likely never any interest in Dufty. He is a good player but fullbacks who get rag-dolled when the defence gets hold of them aren't popular in the NRL. He needs to change something. Maybe the way he runs or take a few months off, away from drug testers and try some human growth hormone.

Good suggestion. That will work. Shows your thinking outside the square

 

[BLM01]

Jake Clifford...

Righto you win. But Kahu is a better kicker than all of them

 

[LINESPEED]

There was likely never any interest in Dufty. He is a good player but fullbacks who get rag-dolled when the defence gets hold of them aren't popular in the NRL. He needs to change something. Maybe the way he runs or take a few months off, away from drug testers and try some human growth hormone.

Ego sum iterare ...

OK comment, but IMHO Matt is copping the ‘ragdolled’ tag disproportionately - as he learns his trade?
And it seems to be largely weight based?

By all reports he’s 83kg.

Just for comparison:
Les Johns 70
A Mundine 70
Keith Barnes 74
C Churchill 76
G Langlands 78
D Messenger 79
T Lamb 80
Brian Johnston 83
James Maloney 83
B Kenny 84
Jai Field 85
Matt Bowen 85
A Reynolds 85
D Cherry-Evan 85
Darren Lockyer 85
J Thurston 86
J Ado-Carr 86

Just saying


Not all like-for-like positionally ( or ability wise) of course

Having seen most of the above play, I don’t recall their weight-cum-‘‘ragdolling’ being any defining issue in their careers



And I believe very few of the above would’ve run him down.

Give the kid a fair go fellas