Emotional night for five-star Dufty
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Matt Dufty responded to the heartbreak of being told he's not wanted by the Dragons for 2022 by turning in a stunning performance in his side's big win over Brisbane on Thursday night.
In his return from a shoulder injury, Dufty tallied up two tries and four try assists before saying there were no hard feelings between himself and coach Anthony Griffin.
"Obviously I love the Dragons, I grew up in the St George area, played all my juniors here, I debuted here, I love playing at the Dragons," Dufty said.
"It was obviously very heartbreaking, it was a hard pill to swallow but that's footy sometimes. We're all adults and all professionals.
"Me and Hook [Griffin], we're sweet, we had a good chat about it, [about] expectations for the rest of the year and I thought today was the first step in trying to play good footy for the Dragons.
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"It's the decision the club wants to make, it's out of my hands. It was a bit of a shock but I just had to let it go and move forward.
"At the start of the year I just wanted to play some footy and I thought that's what I did. I thought I was playing pretty good."
Dufty said he hadn't got to the point of talking to other clubs but was hoping continued strong form would help his case.
Things couldn't have gone much better on Thursday, with the small but vocal home crowd showing him no shortage of support.
"It was a pretty special night, especially at Kogarah, I love playing at Kogarah," Dufty said.
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"I nearly teared up after the game, all the fans banging on the cage there, it was pretty emotional.
"I think I was overwhelmed with a bit of emotion, there was happiness and I was a bit upset as well with all these fans cheering for me. It's a feeling I can't describe, it was a pretty special moment.
"It's home for me and all my friends and family came out to support me tonight in my first game back. I'm just thankful for all the fans turned out and to the boys as well, they showed a lot of faith in me tonight, gave me a lot of ball.
"It was a good performance from the team."
