Matt Dufty

[Crush]

Correction...

Is an idiot

No I stand by my use of the past tense.
He is no longer relevant to our club.

 

[redv13]

No I stand by my use of the past tense.
He is no longer relevant to our club.

I’ll take both. He was an idiot and yes he still is an idiot

 

[blacksafake]

Dragons fullback facing unclear future
“Right now it feels like it’s a 50/50 scenario.”

By
Jake Benoiton
-
STAFF WRITER
April 21, 2021

TOWNSVILLE, AUSTRALIA - JULY 21: Matt Dufty of the Dragons makes a break which lead to him scoring a try during the round 19 NRL match between the North Queensland Cowboys and the St George Illawarra Dragons at 1300SMILES Stadium on July 21, 2018 in Townsville, Australia. (Photo by Ian Hitchcock/Getty Images)

St George Illawarra fullback Matt Dufty says his future at the Dragons is unknown and believes he is a “50-50” chance to be at the club next season.

The off-contract incumbent faces an uncertain future at Kogarah for the first time since signing an extension with the Red V in 2019 – a deal that followed just 12 months after he one prior.

Now facing another season unsigned, the 25-year-old has admitted there is a high level of unpredictability as the 2021 season progresses.

Speaking to the Sydney Morning Herald, Dufty said his manager was handling things at the moment but said he doesn’t know where his future lies at this point.

“There are some things in the works, my manager is talking to a few other clubs, so we’ll see what happens,” he said.

“Right now it feels like it’s a 50/50 scenario [whether I stay here].

“I’d love to be at the Dragons, it feels like we’re building something really good here with the people we have and the squad we’re building.

“If you look at all the other teams’ fullbacks, they have a decent fullback there – so if I want to play fullback, the Dragons are my best option.

TOWNSVILLE, AUSTRALIA – JULY 21: Matt Dufty of the Dragons runs the ball during the round 19 NRL match between the North Queensland Cowboys and the St George Illawarra Dragons at 1300SMILES Stadium on July 21, 2018 in Townsville, Australia. (Photo by Ian Hitchcock/Getty Images)
“I love playing there, it’s my main position. Last year and this year I feel like I’m starting to cement myself as a fullback in the NRL.″⁣

Dufty admitted that the angst of waiting to find out whether the Dragons want him next season or whether he should look elsewhere wasn’t easy to deal wit.

“With every week that goes by, it gets a bit more stressful.”

Dufty is not the only Dragon without a deal beyond 2021 with star Corey Norman also without a contract.

However, Norman is far more relaxed about the potential of a new deal.

“There are plenty of spots up for grabs and with clubs needing halves. I’ll worry about it when I need to,” Norman said.

“Whatever will be will be. And I trust I’ll play good enough footy to get a contract. I’m backing myself.

“England is too cold for me. It depends, if I don’t get a club here I might have to look over there. But that’s not where I want to be at at the minute. I’ll worry about it when the time comes.″⁣

Other senior figures Kaide Ellis, Tyrell Fuimaono, Jordan Pereira and Brayden Wiliame are also yet to commit to the Dragons past the 2021 season.
Veteran forward Trent Merrin announced his immediate retirement on Wednesday following a 253-game first class career.

https://www.nospam21.com/dragons-fullback-facing-unclear-future-nrl-103451/

Sounds like he’s starting to let it get to him & if so it could start a affect his performance.
Yet on the other hand Norman is just Norman unfazed.

 

[merahputih]

Being an idiot is not an impediment to advancement in other fields, so why not in NRL coaching? Look who's "running" the country at the moment.

 

[denis preston]

He scores 3 tries against roosters, holds the ball and makes most of his tackles and all of a sudden we all will be demanding his signature. That's how funny this kind of thing is.

These are the kind of games we need our match winners to bring home the bacon.

Realistically the above scenario wont take place. Tough calls need to be made and I believe Hook will see to it. Love Dufty and his talent is sure to see him find a home elsewhere, but there are players that can better meet our needs.

And swapping fullbacks is just the start...

In the near future we also need recruitment in at least 4 of the 5 following positions:

Fullback
Halves
Hooker
Second row/lock
Prop forward

Jesus Red V , so a total cleanout ?

 

[Wittenberg]

We need to get rid of Dufty, he doesn’t score or create enough tries. Let him do that for another club, especially against us....

 

[Illusion]

We need to get rid of Dufty, he doesn’t score or create enough tries. Let him do that for another club, especially against us....

With his mistakes , take him out of the team , who sets up the tries , who scores them ? ..... Yea lets let him go .....

 

[thebigredv]

Jesus Red V , so a total cleanout ?

Wouldn't call it a clean out but some major changes in key positions.

I'm going against sentiment I know as the current team have gone great, I'm not ignoring that. It is probably a case of overachievement, likely to go bust when the upper echelon turn it on later in the season. I say that because look at the quality of lineups of the other top 8 teams.

I consider the following to be fact.

We won't win a premiership with Norman in the halves, nor with Dufty at fullback.

We have money (frizell/McInnes/Merrin/widdop) to buy a big boppa with great go forward. Either JDB is back or we replace him with another quality second rower.

I think McCullogh could get the job done but a slow dummy half in the current speed of the NRL...I'm not completely convinced.

I want a premiership. Give hook a bit more quality and it is a possibility.

 

[Forbes Creek Dragons]

With his mistakes , take him out of the team , who sets up the tries , who scores them ? ..... Yea lets let him go .....

Problem is that it isn’t his job to setup tries, it is icing on the cake after the fundamentals of fullback have been mastered. He is without a doubt our most potent attacking weapon though and I would love to see him as a running 5/8.

 

[Saints Forever]

We know you will give your all today Matt

Hope you burn the Roosters today and show us your very best form in all facets of fullback play.

 

[Illusion]

Problem is that it isn’t his job to setup tries, it is icing on the cake after the fundamentals of fullback have been mastered. He is without a doubt our most potent attacking weapon though and I would love to see him as a running 5/8.

Agree if he is the one setting up tries then the others are not doing their job .... Hunt included .... We are all quick to forget that Hunt has only been ok for about four games , the last few years Norman Hunt have done nothing , yet again it was up to Dufty to score and set up tries when we were playing bad .... Lets hope everyone in the team improve under Hook ......

 

[redandwhite4evr]

As a non Dragons fan Dufty is such an intriguing player to watch.

The things he does well/talents are probably in the top five of the competition. His acceleration and speed are elite and probably has the best cut out pass in the league.

The fact he doesn't appear to be getting better at fullback after years in top grade is baffling.

Does he just lack the ability to play the basics of position at a first grade level or is it bad coaching to date? Correct me if I'm wrong but didn't Brown ditch Soward for Ben Rogers for the finals the year before Bennett took over?

Maybe Dufty just needs a good coach who can bring the rest of his play upto standard while not removing the parts of his game that can blow a match open.

To some extent it gets down to the Nature versus Nurture argument. There is only so much coaching that can be done- some talents you're born with and are instinctive.

I would argue for instance that Jake T is a natural defender- doesn't gets his head in the wrong place and for a guy who does so much of the grunt work at Manly , never seems to get concussed.

Anticipation and its consequence, positional play, are areas where Dufty has struggled in the past and I'm not sure he can improve. On the other hand, his communication with his defence, another area of weakness, may stem from a lack of confidence and be improved with coaching.

 

[possm]

I think we will see Dufty at his best when he gives up his aspirations to be a first grade fullback. Dufty has exceptional speed and is very elusive. He is also good when chiming into the backline and setting our wingers with a long pass.

But unfortunately other areas a fullback needs to do well he falls short.

My feeling is that Dufty will have to make a decision in the not so distant future; to stay at the Dragons and be our utility player of the bench or to consider offers from ESL clubs.

I believe he would make a great utility player tearing the opposition to shreds when they are tired or when they have their bench players on the field.

 

[redandwhite4evr]

I think we will see Dufty at his best when he gives up his aspirations to be a first grade fullback. Dufty has exceptional speed and is very elusive. He is also good when chiming into the backline and setting our wingers with a long pass.

But unfortunately other areas a fullback needs to do well he falls short.

My feeling is that Dufty will have to make a decision in the not so distant future; to stay at the Dragons and be our utility player of the bench or to consider offers from ESL clubs.

I believe he would make a great utility player tearing the opposition to shreds when they are tired or when they have their bench players on the field.

While I agree with your basic premise, my concern is that the junior in house successors to Dufty are all similar attack -minded full-backs. Watched the S D Ball semi yesterday and didn't see much from Sloan in terms of positional play or defence. Maybe we have to think outside the square and consider Rav for the job given that he's now a gun in the air, dynamic defensively and has the strength to carry defenders out of the end zone.

 

[thebigredv]

I think we will see Dufty at his best when he gives up his aspirations to be a first grade fullback. Dufty has exceptional speed and is very elusive. He is also good when chiming into the backline and setting our wingers with a long pass.

But unfortunately other areas a fullback needs to do well he falls short.

My feeling is that Dufty will have to make a decision in the not so distant future; to stay at the Dragons and be our utility player of the bench or to consider offers from ESL clubs.

I believe he would make a great utility player tearing the opposition to shreds when they are tired or when they have their bench players on the field.

Im more than happy to keep him as a utility which of course does not assume a huge price tag. Huge price tag players win games for their teams like the one today. He showed up in the last 5 min.

 

[mickeylane]

Today you saw a makeshift full-back in Joey Manu have more influence on the game than Dufty...his days IMO are numbered and Dragons need to find an established fullback that can have a strong kick return and also offer some physical presence at the back..I think Dragons will be looking for a FB...Hook has basically buried Clune by using Bird in the halves due to physicality...I think the burials will go like this during the season.
Clune dropped for Hunt
Dufty dropped for possibly Ramsay
Norman dropped for Bird at 5/8

 

[Saints Forever]

I thought Matt played well yesterday

Caught the high ball

was sniffing around centre field looking for opportunities

Unfortunately for him we lost the go forward battle hence much fewer opportunities

 

[BLM01]

I thought Matt played well yesterday

Caught the high ball

was sniffing around centre field looking for opportunities

Unfortunately for him we lost the go forward battle hence much fewer opportunities

Yep This...
seems to have gone unnoticed and glossed over by many in here
He also actually tried to run a bit harder into the defence
Sure he probably had a quieter game to what we have seen in the past but he was a lot louder than many others
He was our go to man in attack
I will balance that out with a negative when they are attacking our line and the ball is getting swung out wide he needs to chase cross field a bit harder he in attempt to possibly help save some tries

 

[Dion]

While I agree with your basic premise, my concern is that the junior in house successors to Dufty are all similar attack -minded full-backs. Watched the S D Ball semi yesterday and didn't see much from Sloan in terms of positional play or defence. Maybe we have to think outside the square and consider Rav for the job given that he's now a gun in the air, dynamic defensively and has the strength to carry defenders out of the end zone.

I think Ramsey is our FB in waiting.
Being played out of position now, but would like to see what he can do when given a proper go as our custodian.

 

[getsmarty]

DRAGONS STAR ON THE OUTER AS HISTORY REPEATS

The Matt Dufty contract situation at St George Illawarra is starting to look eerily similar to the Cameron McInnes contract scenario at the Red V from earlier in the year.

The Dragons tap danced around the McInnes situation for as long as possible by stipulating they didn’t want to make an offer that would “insult” their skipper.

In reality they wanted to make a play to bring Andrew McCullough to the club as the first choice hooker and McInnes was politely squeezed out.

The end result was McInnes joined the Cronulla Sharks on a four-year contract starting in October this year.

Back to Dufty. The Dragons fullback reiterated earlier this week he thinks he’s only a 50/50 proposition of remaining in the Red V beyond this year.

Which considering he’s scored six tries in the opening six games along with making six line breaks, four try-assists and four line break assists is an intriguing ploy.

But clearly the Red V new coach Anthony Griffin believes Dufty is still very much a work-in-progress.

The Dragons also showed their hand in February when they re-signed Cody Ramsey to a three-year deal until the end of 2024.

When Griffin was asked about Dufty after the Dragons upstaged the Eels in round five, these were his words: “He’s a good kid, he’s been improving.

“He needs to keep learning the fine art of playing fullback in tight football games like tonight.

“He needs to keep improving to unlock his potential. He’s great with the ball but he’s still learning the finer arts of mastering his craft.”

The case in point was when Dufty failed to ground the ball in-goal against the Warriors in round six and Paul Turner raced through and scored.

With the Warriors leading 6-4 and 25 minutes gone, Dufty needed to make the play.

A game-breaking performance against the Roosters at the SCG on Anzac Day will put Dufty firmly in the shop front window for rival NRL clubs.


https://www.foxsports.com.au/nrl/nr...t/news-story/c8221f4a5bf724db4848db51fe585a6b