Former Warrington Wolves full-back Matt Dufty made an impressive return to the NRL, scoring a try in South Sydney Rabbitohs’ 30-12 win over St George Illawarra Dragons.
Dufty joined the Bunnies’ NSW Cup side earlier this year after being granted early release from his contract with Warrington, but Souths were granted special dispensation to promote him into the senior NRL squad earlier this week following an injury to Jye Gray.
As a result, he was selected to start at full-back against his former side, who he left to move to the Wire in 2022.
Matt Dufty impresses on NRL return
Dufty enjoyed a decent return to life in the NRL against the Dragons, too, scoring a solo try from 30 metres out in the second-half, which was later deemed the Telstra Moment of the Match.
That try will certainly take the spotlight, but Dufty was a fiend all night with ball-in-hand. Across his shift, the full-back made an astonishing 324 metres from his 24 carries, including 165 kick-return metres, while also making five tackle bursts and one linebreak.
“I saw him playing at the Dragons for a number of years and was a dangerous player,” Souths head coach Wayne Bennett said of Dufty post-match. “He was probably a bit erratic at times, but outside of that he was very, very good.
“If you look at the full-backs in the game, most of them are small guys; they’re not big men. He was brave, and it’s hard to fault him.”
“I saw it at the captain’s run when he got presented his jersey,” Rabbitohs captain Cameron Murray added of the ex-Warrington man. “His family were there and you could just tell how grateful he was for the opportunity again. He gave us some background on his story over the past couple of years, and he didn’t think he’d be back here in this position and getting an opportunity in the NRL.
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