NRL 2020: Matt Dufty Titans, Justin Holbrook fires back at Paul McGregor sledge
After being used as a punchline by St George Illawarra coach Paul McGregor to fire up his faltering Dragons, the Gold Coast have hit back hard.
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Titans coach Justin Holbrook has fired back at Dragons rival Paul McGregor’s brutal sledge by claiming he never wanted to sign St George Illawarra fullback Matt Dufty.
Dufty revealed McGregor challenged him to fire for the Dragons after being linked with an immediate move to the Gold Coast.
“The coach said if (the rumour) is true, you can go and play 20 games a year for the Titans if you want or you can play 20 games here by forcing yourself to get picked every week and play the rest of the season,” Dufty said after the Dragons’ drought-breaking win against Cronulla.
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The comment went down like a lead-balloon at the last-placed Titans given it came from a coach fighting for his future in the NRL at a club running 14th.
The Titans will host the Dragons at Suncorp Stadium on Saturday afternoon in what will be Tigers recruit Corey Thompson’s first game for the Gold Coast.
Holbrook said Thompson was the only fullback the Titans wanted to sign.
“I did see that, it was interesting because I’m not sure he (Dufty) had the opportunity to make that decision,” Holbrook said.
“We had been hoping to get Corey Thompson for a while. It’s up to Mary (McGregor) to motivate his own players.
“When Matt Dufty got asked that his only answer could have been to stay here and fight for his spot because we were going to sign Corey Thompson. That made his answer easy.”
The Titans are fighting to get off the bottom of the NRL ladder and Holbrook is hoping the addition of Thompson will help them secure their second win of the year.
Thompson drove from Sydney to the Gold Coast on Sunday and will be rushed straight into the No. 1 jersey for the Dragons duel in front of 2000 fans.
“He’s a natural fullback and has been playing the game a long time,” Holbrook said.
“I’ve got no issue or hesitation (playing him). I was always going to go that way.
“It took a bit of a process to get him here but he is ready to go.
“He’s a fit guy and been playing long enough to slot straight in.”
After securing a thrilling win against the Tigers a fortnight ago, the Titans were back to their sloppy worst in last week’s 32-12 loss to South Sydney.
Holbrook has again overlooked ex-representative players Nathan Peats, Jarrod Wallace and Shannon Boyd for selection, but is hopeful of the Titans improving.
“We’ve got to play better than we did last week,” he said.
“We didn’t start well again which wasn’t great. Outside that we competed hard but we’ve got to be better for 80 minutes. We let some soft tries in.
“I thought we fought pretty hard after that but we weren’t ready from the start.
“It was disappointing not to back up the Tigers game but we get the opportunity (on Saturday).”
Originally published as NRL 2020: Matt Dufty Titans, Justin Holbrook fires back at Paul McGregor sledge
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