Corey Norman v Matt Dufty v Gareth Widdop: Why Dragons recruit is no guarantee for fullback
Dragons
The Dragons have three fullback options for 2019.Source: FOX SPORTS
St George Illawarra coach Paul McGregor faces a welcome backline headache in 2019 following the club’s acquisition of Corey Norman.
The talented five-eighth or fullback will join the Dragons on a
three-year deal from next season in a move that will strengthen the Red V’s attack.
The biggest question mark that lingers is how the backline will now look.
“Straight away, there will be speculation around the position he’ll play and that’ll be up to the coach,” Dragons recruitment boss Ian Millward said.
Round 1
“We feel Corey as a quality player will give Paul an opportunity to work with some really outstanding talent.”
Some are tipping Norman to take over the No.1 jumper, leaving incumbent Matt Dufty facing the prospect of reserve grade or a positional switch.
But Dragons skipper Gareth Widdop also has some experience in the custodian role from his time playing for Melbourne and England.
So who is best suited to the role?
Numbers provided by
Fox Sports Lab show that particularly in the battle between Norman and Dufty, the latter should feel hard done by to lose his spot.
The former Brisbane and Parramatta star has intermittently started at fullback throughout his career for a total of 32 games.
In those matches, it’s clear Norman has been relied on for his ballplaying, having 34.3 possessions per game.
He’s managed to notch up a total of 19 linebreak assists, 13 try assists, 13 offloads, 10 linebreaks and 89 tackle busts.
His running game has also been strong with 14.7 runs per game for an average of 130 metres.
MATT DUFTY
The young livewire has only appeared at fullback in his 33-game NRL career, starting on 32 occasions — he came off the bench in Round 24 this year against Canterbury.
It’s no secret speed is Dufty’s main attribute and he’s burned more than one opponent to date.
Because of that blistering pace, he trumps Norman when it comes to tackle busts (126) and linebreaks (24). He also edges out his new teammate in try assists with 15.
Another important area where Dufty comes out in top is his ability to find the tryline, and he’s done so on 19 occasions to Norman’s three.
Dufty’s possessions are much lower with 21.4 per game, while his runs (10.8) and metres (113) are lower than Norman. His linebreak assists (14) are also lower.
GARETH WIDDOP
The Englishman has started at fullback in just six NRL games and a further five at international level, so his statisitics are limited.
He also played a host of games in the No.1 jumper in through the junior grades, and it was in the 2009 Under 20s grand final where he helped the Storm to a title with two tries.
Across his top level games, Widdop, like Norman, has clearly been more of a playmaker with 33.1 possessions per game.
He’s scored five tries and set up another six, along with six linebreaks, 10 linebreak assists and 34 tackle busts.
While his numbers are hard to compare to the other fullback contenders, his ballplaying figures are arguably more impressive in his international games compared to the NRL which also highlights his development as a player.
https://www.foxsports.com.au/nrl/nr...k/news-story/30be82367a9edfa2ce57ecfa7742195a
