Matt Dufty

[JohnnoMcJohnno]

These are a list of Current Fullbacks in the NRL off the top of my head... Where do people think Dufty Ranks amongst these..

Ie - who is he better than....

Mine are in order

Trbojevic
Tedesco
Tuivasa Scheck
Papenhuyzen
Mitchell
Gutherson
Ponga
Nicoll-Klokstad
Brimson
Hynes
Laurie
Kennedy
Edwards
Allan
Walsh
Holmes
Watene Zelezniak
Hoy
Isaako

I may have missed a few, apologies.

For me - and i'm honestly not being vindictive or smart - he'd sit around Walsh/Holmes.. Walsh is only new and has incredible talent, no doubt will rocket up the charts next year. Ie Walsh has far more upside IMO than Dufty.

I can only rank confidently rank him above Hoy, Isaako, and possibly Watene Zelezniak.

We currently have the best collective quality of fullbacks I can recall. Maybe he does need a positional shift....

I'd have him higher than that, but not significantly higher. Draw a line under Nicoll-Klokstad everyone above that is an elite fullback, all the skills. Draw another line above Watene-Zelezniak - everyone below that has serious weaknesses as a fullback. Dufty is in the middle group, which includes players still learning the position or like Dufty do some things brilliantly but still have some shortcomings.

I don't disagree that Walsh and Holmes have far more upside than Dufty, but what's the point? They don't play for us. We won't be signing any of the elite fullbacks. Without Dufty, our only option is to try someone new and hope.

 

[st.phil]

I would not write off the backflip - the people power factor is real, people are spewing. IMO - I'm not confident he is the FB to take us all the way but I'm far less confident in ramsey or sloan - they are children. Why not a 2 year deal at a 5 hundy a year and keep the pressure on the top spot? It creates wing depth by virtue of sloan and ramsey. No brainer IMO

 

[dungay dragon]

I would not write off the backflip - the people power factor is real, people are spewing. IMO - I'm not confident he is the FB to take us all the way but I'm far less confident in ramsey or sloan - they are children. Why not a 2 year deal at a 5 hundy a year and keep the pressure on the top spot? It creates wing depth by virtue of sloan and ramsey. No brainer IMO

still would love to see him given a chance at 6...sets up many tries for his outsides with his deft touches.....

 

[Bring back John Fifita]

I don't disagree that Walsh and Holmes have far more upside than Dufty, but what's the point? They don't play for us. We won't be signing any of the elite fullbacks. Without Dufty, our only option is to try someone new and hope.

Understood re these others - it's not so much that they dont play for us, it's more..

What other clubs would have interest in him?
and..
What would he command in term of $$?

I can't see many clubs looking at him - and evaluating him based on a blinder last night. It's the whole package they'd look at - what has he done this season...

A side like the Dogs could use him - but is Dufty a player who can lift a team with struggles that they've had... and have for a while?

When things are going well for the dragons he's generally part of the action. But when the chips are down.......

The top half of that list can lift their sides... and you can bank on on 100% effort and a minimum 7/10 performance at the very least.

At a request of $600k, I'd want to see 100% effort every week, both in attack and defense - and I haven't seen that since the end of last season. If he somehow lights up for the rest of this season consistently, then he has a case... But I'd be concerned that to get that - it's taken the club to let him seek options that has scared him straight.

 

[Bring back John Fifita]

Agree.
And as I’ve said, had we shafted Norman for Duff at 6
at the outset this year
we’d be Top 4
... and I’d like, for interest, to see the anti-Duff brigade argue that to the contrary

I'm not arguing with it.

In Defence,

You can protect him in defence, need him outside Tariq Sims or similar (ie like the Beau Scott/Jamie Soward strategy). He is a small body and would need to be up to the rigors of more tackling though. I reckon he's less of a liability here than at the back.

In attack...

I'd suggest it means the kicking falls solely to Ben Hunt, and Old Man River out of Dummy Half. People can say what they like about Norman, failing etc - but I reckon he's got the best boot in our club. Hunt's no mug... but he'd have to shoulder the workload, and would targetted on the last tackle deluxe, coz it's always gonna come to him...

Passing Game - appears strong from when he chimes in. But it's generally the same thing, floating out to the centre/wing etc. Can he switch back inside, pass both ways, long/short etc. Unproven - maybe he can ,maybe he cant. Would he go to the line and pass/offload in tackles? Dunno... Norman aint exactly succeeding at this either though.

 

[Forbes Creek Dragons]

These are a list of Current Fullbacks in the NRL off the top of my head... Where do people think Dufty Ranks amongst these..

Ie - who is he better than....

Mine are in order

Trbojevic
Tedesco
Tuivasa Scheck
Papenhuyzen
Mitchell
Gutherson
Ponga
Nicoll-Klokstad
Brimson
Hynes
Laurie
Kennedy
Edwards
Allan
Walsh
Holmes
Watene Zelezniak
Hoy
Isaako

I may have missed a few, apologies.

For me - and i'm honestly not being vindictive or smart - he'd sit around Walsh/Holmes.. Walsh is only new and has incredible talent, no doubt will rocket up the charts next year. Ie Walsh has far more upside IMO than Dufty.

I can only rank confidently rank him above Hoy, Isaako, and possibly Watene Zelezniak.

We currently have the best collective quality of fullbacks I can recall. Maybe he does need a positional shift....

I would have him on par with Edwards. Better in attack worse in all other aspects. Below him I’d have the bottom 6 on your list besides Holmes. That’s being brutally honest and does change the way you look at things.

 

[LINESPEED]

Dufty at 6 would get pounded defensively every week. Not sure his body could sustain 20+ tackles each game in the frontline

Fair point.
Duff 83kg or thereabouts.
Sullivan our so-called future, currently 80kg.
No6 gets more protection maybe these days, especially via the rules.
Duff sets up most of his tries from the more or less No6 field position perhaps?

Duff or Norman?

Just to me seems a nobrainer,

...but everyone has an opinion -

& that has to be respected of course

 

[hewi]

Use him as Jamie Soward was used under Bennett, his defence is no worse than Sowards was

 

[Gourley's Socks]

$600Kpa seems about market rate for that middle of the pack fullback. Maybe he's $100K over value but it's not completely out to lunch.

I think his asking price is more a factor of the inflationary pressure of the Dragons paying $2Mpa for a halves pairing yet he is involved in more than 50% of the tries.

This was always one of the dangers in paying Hunt such overs and was only compounded still with the signing of Norman.

 

[Gold_Coast Dragon]

Would much rather the club made him a decent offer and let him shop around.

To publicly say we have no use for you at any price seems absurd.

In terms of timing and execution in attack he is absolutely elite.

 

[Illusion]

Amazing Hook and Co don't know how to use him ...... the way the game is going defense is not coming into play as the scores this year are big .....

 

[jeffdragon]

There is an article saying a senior dragons official said we aren't going to win a comp with his defence at fullback .
Well we aren't going to win one without him in our attack are we.
Wonder who this so-called senior official is.
Another ill advised comment from a "So Called Official "

 

[R&WTILLIDIE]

I’m not saying that we should, or shouldn’t resign Dufty. I’m just sharing the memes I’m getting.

 

[blacksafake]

These are a list of Current Fullbacks in the NRL off the top of my head... Where do people think Dufty Ranks amongst these..

Ie - who is he better than....

Mine are in order

Trbojevic
Tedesco
Tuivasa Scheck
Papenhuyzen
Mitchell
Gutherson
Ponga
Nicoll-Klokstad
Brimson
Hynes
Laurie
Kennedy
Edwards
Allan
Walsh
Holmes
Watene Zelezniak
Hoy
Isaako

I may have missed a few, apologies.

For me - and i'm honestly not being vindictive or smart - he'd sit around Walsh/Holmes.. Walsh is only new and has incredible talent, no doubt will rocket up the charts next year. Ie Walsh has far more upside IMO than Dufty.

I can only rank confidently rank him above Hoy, Isaako, and possibly Watene Zelezniak.

We currently have the best collective quality of fullbacks I can recall. Maybe he does need a positional shift....

I would put him above Allan.

 

[SET2JT]

I think it all has to do with the fact that 2 of our back 3 are too small. Sometimes i feel sorry for Rava trying to get our sets started on a kick return.
It doesn't matter how good u are at attacking in the red zone if we can't get past our 30m after 5 tackles.

 

[coastiedragon]

I think he played his best game ever put body on line when pangai charged over, he ran the ball back to spaces not face's and didn't carry on like he 7 foot tall, try assists and 2 meat pies but it doesn't say we sign him immediately but I think we should know who we are replacing him with

 

[Dragon for life]

Dufty at 6 would get pounded defensively every week. Not sure his body could sustain 20+ tackles each game in the frontline

Totally agree with this comment. At 6 he would be targeted by the good teams (Broncos are atrocious at the moment).
Could you imagine Bennett and Bellamy rubbing their hands together planning the attack with Dufty in the defensive line.

Also comments regarding having someone help him out defensively just can’t happen anymore. The game is too fast and you can’t rely on someone helping you out. This will have the players around him second guessing themselves. He would just be a major target for all teams.

 

[Blood Shot Eyes]

So if we let him go who will play fullback......Ramsay? Sorry imo hes nowhere near ready.....Hook just needs to work on Duffs positional play and in particular his defence......it can be done... realistically Hook has had very little time to to work on these key points when you compere it with the wasted years under The Imposter that showed next to no confidence in the bloke.....I've heard noises hes to light , that doesnt hold up with me actualy Dufty is the same weight as Papenhuyzen.....do you think Melbourne would replace him at fullback because of his size....big mistake imo if we just let him walk out the door....its not as though we are flushed with attacking players

 

[Dragon for life]

I would not write off the backflip - the people power factor is real, people are spewing. IMO - I'm not confident he is the FB to take us all the way but I'm far less confident in ramsey or sloan - they are children. Why not a 2 year deal at a 5 hundy a year and keep the pressure on the top spot? It creates wing depth by virtue of sloan and ramsey. No brainer IMO

Agree with the Ramsay comment. Everytime the ball goes towards him I shit myself. Just doesn’t look comfortable.

 

[lingard]

He will get a contract in the NRL but agree it unlikely a team will pay at the elite level he is after.

I reckon he would fit in well at Canterbury.