Matt Dufty will offer greatest tell-all into impact of new Dragons coach Anthony Griffin

If the Dragon Army are looking for an ounce of hope, their fleet-footed fullback will offer the greatest tell-all into the impact of new coach Anthony Griffin.

Matt Dufty and the Dragons have run out of excuses.

Matt Dufty has run out of excuses.

And frankly, so have the Dragons.

When skittish St George Illawarra fans tune in to watch their opening-round derby clash with Cronulla on Sunday, they need to zero in on their fullback.

Fox Sports should train Eagle-Cam to follow the Dragons No.1.

That’s how significant his performance is both for his own survival as a Dragon and that of the equal wooden-spoon favourites as a team.

There is a heavy fog hanging over the Saints ahead of the 2021 season.

But if the Dragon Army are looking for an ounce of hope, it’s Dufty who over the next 80 minutes will offer the greatest tell-all into the impact of new coach Anthony Griffin.

“If Hook (Griffin) can’t get it done with that group, no one will get it done,’’ Griffin’s agent Wayne Beavis told this column.

And it’s Dufty who Griffin has made his summer project.

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Matt Dufty and the Dragons have run out of excuses.

Dufty joined the Dragons at 13 when he received a letter from Wayne Bennett asking if the Penshurst Junior would like to train with the elite junior program.

He’s now 25 — and has played 67 NRL games after making his first-grade debut four years ago.

Comparable only by stature, the similarly framed Ryan Papenhuyzen, 22, has already played 42 games after making his NRL debut just two years ago.

Dufty is a likeable guy. He’s certainly not what you would call a dickhead and comes from a strong family with quality values.

He’s the type of local junior that if the Dragons are to ever untangle their lopsided salary cap, the club needs to see him consistently fire given that the clubs that regularly play finals footy boast a higher count of local juniors. It’s largely due to the cap advantage that comes from enticing a local product to stay for less, as opposed to competing for talent on the open market.

But speak to those who know the enigmatic fullback best, including his past and present coaches and teammates, and they claim it’s Dufty’s tone of entitlement that has held him back — and of which Griffin, has spent the past summer banging out of him.

Dufty’s point to the press earlier this month that a “toxic environment” at the Dragons has crippled his past two years shows he’s still got some work to do in the art of taking ownership of his game.

Matt Dufty will offer the greatest tell-all into the impact of new coach Anthony Griffin. Picture: Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images

Off-contract at the end of this season, the excuses need to stop if he wants to stay a Saint.

He needs to perform and if his summer work ethic is anything to go by, Dufty is at least showing signs he’s committed to proving he can hold off rising star Cody Ramsey for the Dragons fullback position.

Over the New Year, he has gone back to school to understand the art of playing fullback.

He has watched more videos in nine weeks than he has in two years.

The Dragons will be stunned if we all don’t see a big game from Dufty. To notice a change in Dufty is to watch his game in isolation tonight.

Forget the 75-metre YouTube tries.

Instead, Dragons fans need to identify the parts of Dufty’s game that have always been there in teaspoons — as opposed to bucketloads.

Watch off the ball to see Dufty organise the Dragons’ defensive line.

Compare his goal-line desperation to make the tackle or clean up the loose ball with that of the elite fullbacks.

Matt Dufty has a big year ahead for St George Illawarra. Picture: Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images

The Sharks are going to hammer Dufty all night with high kicks. Watch for his response to the swarming defensive line.

When the Sharks’ Chad Townsend shapes to kick down field, watch to see if Dufty has already begun organising his wingers Mikaele Ravalawa and Ramsey.

Dufty has been working on his “kick defence” — which is to build pressure on the opposition kickers so that the Dragons back three are in a position to receive the ball on the full or at pace, as opposed to chasing back, across or forward to retrieve the footy.

Dufty has reached a point in his career that reflects the Dragons recruitment — for too long they have signed players on potential.

Dufty is under no illusion that potential will no longer keep him at the Dragons.

As a kid, Dufty would run around his local oval with the words of his father Glenn in his head — “If they can’t catch you, they can’t hurt you’’.

For the sake of the Dragons and his own career, hurting the Sharks is where he needs to begin.