Matt Dufty

[TruSaint]

Shame, I remember in his early games in first grade he was really reliable and brave. I'm sure he has to be down on confidence. Sadly we don't have a coach who can lift that confidence..

You are probably correct mate. At the minute he is hesitant and very vulnerable at the back. It is as you say probably a mind set issue. But it is real. If he overcomes that, he is a real gun.

Easier said than done though.

 

[BennyV]

Shame, I remember in his early games in first grade he was really reliable and brave. I'm sure he has to be down on confidence. Sadly we don't have a coach who can lift that confidence..

I don’t recall that - his first 8 games I don’t think he ever ran the ball from fullback, instead opting to hand off to a winger. I’m sure that was coached but still...

 

[LINESPEED]

I don’t recall that - his first 8 games I don’t think he ever ran the ball from fullback, instead opting to hand off to a winger. I’m sure that was coached but still...

Yeah that’s what I recall too

Sadly players aren’t ‘coached’ at our Club ATM

- their skills are impaired rather

& mainly in the backline you might notice FFS



PS
In the old days we kept forwards out of the backline & got the ball to the wing ASAP -

that was the name of the game, no tricks involve.

One on one & beat your man QED - ball thru the hands

AND Raper was always there
to cover the opposition

None of this aerial shit that’s fattening the rulebook

 

[slippery5]

Probably does but then I’m sure Ravalawa trains the house down too!

You get a starting position in Mary's team if you you train the house down. (especially if it's in the off season]

 

[slippery5]

Just as we had to wait for Dugan to be injured, for Dufty to get his chance, we will have to wait for an injury to Dufty for us to see the alternative, in Field.
From watching his early stages of his career & his recent form, this kid has a much better passing game & bamboozals the defence more than what Dufty offers. Just ask Freddy Fittler

 

[nontime111]

Just as we had to wait for Dugan to be injured, for Dufty to get his chance, we will have to wait for an injury to Dufty for us to see the alternative, in Field.
From watching his early stages of his career & his recent form, this kid has a much better passing game & bamboozals the defence more than what Dufty offers. Just ask Freddy Fittler

we could have this backline if Dufter doesnt go on.....

Field
Pearson
Lomax
Lafai
Periera
Norman
Hunt

 

[j0nesy]

I don’t recall that - his first 8 games I don’t think he ever ran the ball from fullback, instead opting to hand off to a winger. I’m sure that was coached but still...

I’m with you. I remember commenting that I thought he was under instructions to hand the ball off to Nene and Nightingale on every kick return.

 

[Belta]

He was being sarcastic Possm.....

Yeah sorry to those who misread my sarcasm and by saying it I wasn’t trying to sugar coat Duftys performances, but highlighting the sudden and mysterious infiltration of spider coated floating bombs inundating our game.

I think he’s going well but Hopefully he is aware of the areas in his game that need improvement and understands where he is at and what he has to do to get to the next level. Dealing with the floating bombs is one area but game involvement continues to be my biggest gripe. A super talent none the less. Go the Duffman.

 

[Dennis Papaioannou]

Yeah sorry to those who misread my sarcasm and by saying it I wasn’t trying to sugar coat Duftys performances, but highlighting the sudden and mysterious infiltration of spider coated floating bombs inundating our game.

I think he’s going well but Hopefully he is aware of the areas in his game that need improvement and understands where he is at and what he has to do to get to the next level. Dealing with the floating bombs is one area but game involvement continues to be my biggest gripe. A super talent none the less. Go the Duffman.

Maybe Glen Burgess can give him some tuition in fielding bombs...

 

[Blood&Bandage]

Maybe Glen Burgess can give him some tuition in fielding bombs...

Glen Burgess was heroic under the high ball.

 

[Dragonsamy]

Maybe Glen Burgess can give him some tuition in fielding bombs...

Dennis
You wold hope that Ben Hornby would be able to help him get more confidence under the high ball

 

[Dennis Papaioannou]

Dennis
You wold hope that Ben Hornby would be able to help him get more confidence under the high ball

I've lost faith in the coaching staff.
Huge respect for Hornby as a fullback come half back - very cool under pressure - but not as a coach.
I don't understand why Dufty and Aitkin have technical deficiencies in their game given Hornby was a very skilled bomb taker and McGregor a top class centre.
Even Nightingale could have mentored Dufty in terms of the high ball.
Why is he still struggling?
He is worth 2 or 3 costly boo boos every game.
Sort of dilutes his other attributes.

 

[Dragonslayer]

I can almost 100% guarantee that once you lose confidence under the high ball its almost impossible to get it back. Every bomb is different, you cant coach that fact. Practice at training solves about 20% of high ball issues, it doesn't factor in such things as, game pressure, wind, sun, ground conditions to name a few. You either have the natural approach or you dont, it not something you can coach and once you lose the cobfidence, its gone.

As far as Duf is concerned, to me he's lost the confidence (add into that the other errors which will further erode his confidence), that he once had and will forever have the yipes under the high ball. No amount of coaching will change that unfortunately, because training cannot mimic real game time and the factors I mentioned before.

The question is will he win us more games with his speed than we lose with his yipes?

For mine hw has to be in the 17, the x-factor he brings almost demands that, but in what position?

 

[watatank]

Dufty seems to credit Hornby a fair bit for the work he has already done with him. At what point does one say whether he is either good enough or not

 

[Jbjbjb40]

I can almost 100% guarantee that once you lose confidence under the high ball its almost impossible to get it back. Every bomb is different, you cant coach that fact. Practice at training solves about 20% of high ball issues, it doesn't factor in such things as, game pressure, wind, sun, ground conditions to name a few. You either have the natural approach or you dont, it not something you can coach and once you lose the cobfidence, its gone.

As far as Duf is concerned, to me he's lost the confidence (add into that the other errors which will further erode his confidence), that he once had and will forever have the yipes under the high ball. No amount of coaching will change that unfortunately, because training cannot mimic real game time and the factors I mentioned before.

The question is will he win us more games with his speed than we lose with his yipes?

For mine hw has to be in the 17, the x-factor he brings almost demands that, but in what position?

I agree. I am not sure he has the brain power.
Fullbacks these days need to be right on the ball (pardon the pun).

 

[muzby]

Dufty seems to credit Hornby a fair bit for the work he has already done with him. At what point does one say whether he is either good enough or not

Hornby is good enough

 

[Dennis Papaioannou]

Dufty seems to credit Hornby a fair bit for the work he has already done with him. At what point does one say whether he is either good enough or not

Problem is that Dufty is no longer a beginner in First Grade.
He has had nearly a season and a half in the top grade.
So his strong point is his broken field running that occasionally results in slashing tries as witnessed against Easts.
If he really wants to be the St. George custodian long term, he needs to be safe under the high ball, and work on this positional play.
I actually believe his defence is improving.
We need the complete package at fullback. Not a speed squib that leaks tries.

 

[SnowDragon]

Dufty isn’t a Tedesco or a Slater...
He is still learning...
He has made some mistakes, and the drop ball last match against the chooks hurt...

But get off his case. This forum is way too fast to try to crucify players. I was for Widdop at fullback at the beginning of the season, but the comparison this year convinced me that Dufty is worth moving forward with. The comments that he can improve in areas (like u der the high ball) seem fair to me, but he adds heaps to the team and I see improvements even since last year... roll on Dufts

 

[Carlton]

Dufty isn’t a Tedesco or a Slater...
He is still learning...
He has made some mistakes, and the drop ball last match against the chooks hurt...

But get off his case. This forum is way too fast to try to crucify players. I was for Widdop at fullback at the beginning of the season, but the comparison this year convinced me that Dufty is worth moving forward with. The comments that he can improve in areas (like u der the high ball) seem fair to me, but he adds heaps to the team and I see improvements even since last year... roll on Dufts

Thats the problem he isnt a Tedesco or Slater but that is exactly what we need.

And he is still learning basics after one and a half seasons in first grade and the mistakes he has made are the same ones over and over.

And why do we have to ignore the fact our fullback has shortcomings? I tend to think that some posters on the forum have actually been too fast to talk him up as if he is a future immortal. Choosing between Widdop or Dufty at fullback should never have been the situation we are in, we should have signed a genuine complete fullback before the season started.

 

[Old Timer]

Thats the problem he isnt a Tedesco or Slater but that is exactly what we need.

And he is still learning basics after one and a half seasons in first grade and the mistakes he has made are the same ones over and over.

And why do we have to ignore the fact our fullback has shortcomings? I tend to think that some posters on the forum have actually been too fast to talk him up as if he is a future immortal. Choosing between Widdop or Dufty at fullback should never have been the situation we are in, we should have signed a genuine complete fullback before the season started.

Good post.
If FB was the position that needed strengthening (seemed to be the opinion of the coaching staff when they chased Hayne) then they should have stuck to their guns and done so.
But typical of our lot they took a different option trying to cover a raft of situations and came up well short on the original task at hand.
I am pro Dufty to the point of wanting to see him drastically improve his shortcomings to retain his spot otherwise arriva derci.
People keep talking about Tedesco well despite all his apparent brilliance now he sure as hell had some real deficiencies in his 1st couple of years and that should not be overlooked or forgotten when analysing Dufty's progression.