Matthew Lawrence Dufty (born 10 January 1996) is an Australian professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

footballer who plays as a for the

Warrington Wolves The Warrington Wolves are a professional rugby league club based in Warrington, England, that competes in the Super League. They play rugby at the Halliwell Jones Stadium, having moved there from Wilderspool in 2004. Founded as Warrington Z ...

in the Betfred Super League. He previously played for the

St. George Illawarra Dragons The St. George Illawarra Dragons is an Australian professional rugby league football club, representing both the Illawarra and St George regions of New South Wales. The club has competed in the National Rugby League since 1999 after a joint-ve ...

and the

Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs The Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Belmore, a suburb in the Canterbury-Bankstown region of Sydney. They compete in the NRL Telstra Premiership, as well as competitions facilita ...

in the

NRL The National Rugby League (NRL) is an Australasian rugby league club competition which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory and New Zealand. The NRL formed in 1998 as a joint partnership ...

Background

Dufty was born on 10 January 1996 in

Hurstville, New South Wales Hurstville is a suburb in Southern Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is 16 kilometres south of the Sydney CBD and is part of the St George area. Hurstville is the administrative centre of the local government area of the Georges R ...

, Australia. He attended Marist Catholic College Penshurst from Year 7 to Year 10. He played his junior rugby league for the Penshurst RSL RLFC, before being signed by the

Playing career

Early career

From 2014 to 2016, Dufty played for the St. George Illawarra Dragons'

NYC New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Uni ...

team. In July 2016, he played for the

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

under-20s team against the

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

under-20s team, In 2016 he re-signed with the St. George club on a two-year contract until the end of 2018. In September 2016, he was named on the

interchange bench Interchange (or, colloquially, the bench or interchange bench) is a team position in Australian rules football, consisting of players who are part of the selected team but are not currently on the field of play. Interchange numbers AFL As of t ...

in the 2016 NYC Team of the Year. Dufty played 65 games and scored 55 tries for 220 points in his U20s career from 2014 to 2016. matthewdufty

2017

In 2017, Dufty graduated to St. George Illawarra's

Intrust Super Premiership NSW The NSW Cup, currently known as the Knock-On Effect NSW Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a rugby league competition for clubs in New South Wales. The competition has a history dating back to the NSWRFL's origins in 1908, starting off as a reserv ...

team, the

Illawarra Cutters The Illawarra Rugby League Football Club were an Australian rugby league football club based in Illawarra formed in 2012. Originally known as the Illawarra Cutters, they became known as the Illawarra RLFC before the 2017 Intrust Super Premiershi ...

. In round 20 of the

2017 NRL season The 2017 NRL season was the 110th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 20th season run by the National Rugby League. The season started in New Zealand with the annual Auckland Nines, and was followed by the All Stars Match, w ...

, he made his

debut for the St. George club against the

Manly Warringah Sea Eagles The Manly Warringah Sea Eagles are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Sydney's Northern Beaches. The team colours are maroon and white, while their namesake and logo is the sea eagle. They compete in Australia's premier rugb ...

, scoring a try and providing two try assists.

2018

In the 2018 NRL season, Dufty made 26 appearances for St. George and scored 13 tries as the club finished 7th on the table and qualified for the finals. Dufty played in both finals games, the 48-18 upset victory against Brisbane at

Suncorp Stadium Lang Park, also known as Brisbane Football Stadium, by the sponsored name Suncorp Stadium, and nicknamed: 'The Cauldron', is a multi-purpose stadium in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, located in the suburb of Milton. The current facility co ...

and the 13-12 elimination final defeat against South Sydney. MATT DUFTY Bulldogs

2019

On 18 February Dufty signed a two-year contract extension to remain at St. George Illawarra until the end of the 2021 season. On 25 April Dufty scored an individual 65 metre try for St. George Illawarra during their match against the

Sydney Roosters The Sydney Roosters are an Australian professional Rugby league, Rugby League Football Club based in the Eastern Suburbs (Sydney) and parts of inner Sydney. The club competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) competition. The Roosters have won ...

in the traditional ANZAC Day game. Fox Sports Commentator

Andrew Voss Andrew Voss (born 7 September 1966) is an Australian rugby league commentator and radio and television personality who works for Fox League. Voss previously worked for the SKY Network Television as a commentator, and at the Nine Network, inclu ...

said of the try "What a try here at the SCG!, So many great tries over many, many years, and the name Matt Dufty belongs to one as of today. That is super. Tedesco is looking up saying, 'Which way did he go? ... How many steps Dufty? More than the Opera House!". Dufty made a total of 16 appearances and scored five tries for St. George Illawarra in the

2019 NRL season The 2019 NRL season was the 112th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 22nd season run by the National Rugby League. The Sydney Roosters became the first team to win back-to-back Premierships since the Brisbane Broncos in 1992 ...

as the club endured one of the worst ever seasons finishing 15th on the table just above the last placed Gold Coast.

2020

On 15 February, Dufty suffered a fractured cheekbone whilst playing for St. George Illawarra in the pre-season

NRL Nines The NRL Nines is a rugby league nines competition, normally held during the NRL preseason each year. It was initially held in Auckland, New Zealand, between 2014 and 2017 before going on hiatus. Returning in 2020, hosting duties moved to Perth ...

competition against

Parramatta Parramatta () is a suburb and major Central business district, commercial centre in Greater Western Sydney, located in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located approximately west of the Sydney central business district on the ban ...

and was ruled out for six to eight weeks. Dufty returned to the St. George Illawarra side for their round 2 match against Penrith at

Kogarah Oval Jubilee Stadium, also known as Kogarah Oval or by its sponsored name Netstrata Jubilee Stadium, is a multipurpose stadium in Carlton, New South Wales, Sydney, Australia. The stadium is mainly used for rugby league and the A-League, and is one ...

. Dufty scored two tries in a 28-32 loss. In round 10 against Canterbury, Dufty scored two tries as St. George Illawarra won the match 28-22 at

WIN Stadium Wollongong Showground, known as WIN Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a multi-purpose stadium located in Wollongong, Australia. The stadium was officially opened in 1911. From 1982 until 1998 it played host to every home match for the Illawa ...

. This was Dufty's fifth try in three matches. In round 20, Dufty scored two tries in a 30-22 victory over

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

. Dufty finished the season with 13 tries for the club.

2021

In round 3 of the

2021 NRL season The 2021 NRL season was the 114th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 24th season run by the National Rugby League. Teams The lineup of teams remained unchanged for the 15th consecutive year. Regular season Ladd ...

, Dufty scored two tries in a 38-12 victory over Manly at

. In round 5 of the

, Dufty scored two tries and created two try assists to defeat

. In round 9 of the

, he scored two tries in a 32-12 victory over Canterbury. In round 13, Dufty scored two tries and had five try assists in a man of the match performance as St. George Illawarra defeated Brisbane 52-24. In June, Dufty was informed by the club that his services would not be required for next season as he was not part of their plans going into the future. It was then reported that several northern hemisphere clubs, including St Helens, had expressed an interest in signing Dufty. It was revealed in July that Dufty had signed with the

on a one-year deal for the 2022 season.

2022

In round 1 of the

2022 NRL season The 2022 NRL season is the 115th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 25th season run by the National Rugby League. Teams The lineup of teams remained unchanged for the 16th consecutive year. This became the second longest s ...

, Dufty made his club debut for Canterbury in their 6-4 victory against

North Queensland North Queensland or the Northern Region is the northern part of the Australian state of Queensland that lies just south of Far North Queensland. Queensland is a massive state, larger than many countries, and its tropical northern part has been ...

at the

Queensland Country Bank Stadium North Queensland Stadium, commercially known as Queensland Country Bank Stadium, is a multi-purpose stadium in South Townsville, Queensland, Australia, primarily used for rugby league. History As part of Australia's 2022 FIFA World Cup bid in ...

. On 21 July 2022, the

officially announced an early release grant for Dufty to take up an opportunity in the

Super League The Super League (officially known as the Betfred Super League due to sponsorship from Betfred and legally known as Super League Europe), is the top-level of the British rugby league system. At present the league consists of twelve teams, of wh ...

. On the same day, Dufty signed a two-and-a-half-year deal to join English side

Warrington Warrington () is a town and unparished area in the borough of the same name in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, on the banks of the River Mersey. It is east of Liverpool, and west of Manchester. The population in 2019 was estimat ...

. In round 21 of the 2022 Super League season, Dufty made his Warrington debut against

Huddersfield Huddersfield is a market town in the Kirklees district in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confluence into ...

which ended in defeat. Dufty injured his foot during the match and was taken from the field in the second half. In round 26 of the 2022 Super League season, Dufty scored four tries for Warrington in a 38-36 loss against

2023

In round 24 of the 2023 Super League season, Dufty scored two tries for Warrington in their 66-12 victory over

Castleford Castleford is a town within the City of Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England. It had a population of 45,106 at a 2021 population estimate. Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, to the north of the town centre the River Calder joins the ...

. Dufty played 28 games for Warrington in the 2023 Super League season and scored 13 tries as Warrington finished sixth on the table and qualified for the playoffs. Dufty played in the clubs elimination playoff loss against St Helens.

2024

In round 5 of the 2024 Super League season, Dufty scored a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

in Warrington's 58-4 victory over the hapless

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

side. On 21 March, Dufty signed a contract extension with Warrington to remain at the club until the end of 2026. On 8 June, Dufty played in Warrington's 2024 Challenge Cup final defeat against Wigan.

Controversy

On 5 July 2021, Dufty was fined $23,000 by the

and suspended for one game after breaching the game's

Covid-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

bio-security protocols when he attended a party along with 12 other St. George Illawarra players at

Paul Vaughan Paul William Vaughan (24 October 1925 – 14 November 2014) was a British journalist, radio presenter (of art and science programmes) throughout the 1970s and 1990s, semi-professional jazz and classical musician and a narrator of many BBC Telev ...

's property.

References

External links

St. George Illawarra Dragons profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dufty, Matthew 1996 births Living people Australian rugby league players Australian expatriate rugby league players in England Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs players Illawarra Cutters players Rugby league fullbacks Rugby league players from Sydney St. George Illawarra Dragons players Warrington Wolves players