Why Matt Dufty is on the outer at the Dragons

The St George Illawarra star now finds himself on the outer at the Dragons and his options around the NRL may be limited.

Matthew Dufty celebrating his try with teammate Mikaele Ravalawa during the Dragons win over the Broncos at Netstrata Jubilee Stadium on Thursday night. Picture: Jonathan Ng.

Shane Flanagan spent a season alongside Matt Dufty at St George Illawarra and still talks to him regularly. Ask Flanagan, and he insists the positives far outweigh the negatives when it comes to the Dragons fullback.

It’s a view shared by many, which makes it all the more surprising that Dufty is now fighting to save his career in the NRL after the Dragons decided to not offer him a contract beyond the end of the season.

Bizarre was how one rival club official described it. A section of Dragons fans are so bemused they have signed a petition to keep Dufty. Others have flooded chat forums and websites.

The Dragons, however, won’t cave in to fan sentiment. Out of respect to Dufty, the club has remained tight-lipped on their decision and there hasn’t exactly been a logjam of clubs beating a path to Dufty’s door, in part because some rivals fear there may be more to the story.

That may change after Thursday night, when Dufty starred against Brisbane, although chances are the pickings will be slim. For a player who has perfected his timing on the field, it’s hard to believe Dufty could enter the open market at a worse time.

Of the NRL’s 16 clubs, 13 have the fullback position under control. Another — the Dragons — have already cut the cord with Dufty. That leaves Canterbury and Brisbane as his only realistic hope if he wants to be a starting fullback and earn the sort of dollars the position commands.

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The Broncos are keeping a watching brief on the situation and have begun doing their due diligence behind the scenes. They may yet make an offer for Dufty, although even then it is likely to be short term and on less money than he would have hoped.

The Broncos hold the whip hand given the lack of interest from elsewhere. Even his two-try, five-try assist performance against Brisbane is unlikely to bring a host of clubs to the table because they are stocked at fullback.

Some clubs contacted by The Weekend Australian on Friday suggested they would investigate Dufty as a squad player or potentially a bench utility, but there is little interest in him as a starting fullback.

All openly wondered whether there was more to the Dragons story than has been made public. On that front, the club insists there is nothing untoward. They have flatly rejected claims that Dufty’s manner off the field had contributed to his imminent departure from the Dragons.

Flanagan says he never found Dufty hard to coach. He was inquisitive and wanted to know why certain things were being asked of him, but not to the point of rebellion.

“He would ask a lot of questions,” Flanagan said.

“Sometime players don’t ask why, they just go and do it. I like the kid.”

There is no question there is plenty of upside in Dufty. His has blistering speed and he has developed his passing game. There are deficiencies as well. Defensively, he is not robust. He can also be caught out of position, as he was on occasion against the Broncos.

As good as he was with the ball in his hands, he was culpable at least in parts for two of the Broncos’ tries. The Dragons could afford those mistakes against the Broncos. Against the competition’s elite, it could be the difference between winning and losing.

“He does get out of position, as you saw last night when they kicked on behind him,” another club officials said.

“That was obviously something the Broncos wanted to do. I don’t know if his talk in defence is the correct talk in defence.

“He is not the elite of the elite. If you look at the elite ones …. I think he lacks that polish about him. He is in that next tier.”

Several clubs contacted by The Weekend Australian said they were scared off by the initial asking price for Dufty. It started north of $500,000 but has come down since.

Dufty may now struggle to attract any more than $300,000 on the open market given the lack of vacancies at the back. At that price, he would be a bargain, although it may also mean joining a club where he is forced to play off the interchange bench or bide his time and wait for injuries.

Flanagan is confident Dufty will land somewhere.

“Offensively, he pushes hard around the ball, he is fit, he can pass, he can run,” Flanagan said.

“He is not a dummy. I think he would be fantastic at the Broncos. He is pretty good under the high ball, he is doing to create some opportunities with their outside backs, that is where their strength is.

“He will create opportunities for them. I did’t see any issues at the Dragons — not behaviour wise, he trains well. It is a strange one when you see what he did last night.

“If he is not there last night, it is a different ball game.”