Matt Dufty will return to his coveted No.1 jersey a better player according to coach Paul McGregor, as St George Illawarra begin to plan for life after Gareth Widdop.
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Dufty will start for the first time this year against Newcastle on Sunday night, having fallen victim to the Dragons' spinal restructure before Widdop's shoulder surgery last week.
Re-signed over the off-season and aware he'd have to wait for his chance, Dufty began the year on the bench to accommodate the arrival of Corey Norman and has only provided spark in short patches.
But with Widdop now out injured for the majority of his final season in the NRL, Dufty will be relied upon to provide an X-factor at the back.
"Duft really took the responsibility of that interchange player on and how he has developed from a young player to a person who is team-first," McGregor said.
"He played a lot of footy last year, he had a lot of good in his game, he worked hard in the pre-season to improve what he did in 2018, and now he gets that opportunity.
"He's certainly different to Gaz. He's an X-factor, he goes (at) the game and is highly involved.
"He's very busy which is what we need. And he's got genuine speed, probably something we haven't had in the first few rounds."
McGregor also revealed he hadn't intended on using Widdop as the starting fullback for the whole season, and would've rotated him with Norman.
"We always planned that Gareth wasn't going to play 30 games at fullback," McGregor said.
"It was all about starting the year in the most settled way. We thought Gareth would start there because he knows the system the best. He's got a very loud voice and is captain.
"Normy is a genuine left-sided player as a kicker. But they were going to interchange during the game at different stages and Normy would have started at No.1 at different stages as well."
The Knights will also face a spinal reshuffle in Sunday's game, with Kalyn Ponga reverting to fullback from five-eighth.
"I think it will be very similar to the way he played at No.6, except he will be at fullback on kick returns and defensively," McGregor said.
STATS THAT MATTER:
* The Dragons have won 16 of 20 games at McDonald Jones Stadium.
* Newcastle's 38 points across the opening three rounds is the lowest in their history.
* The Dragons are 4-4 without Gareth Widdop since his 2014 arrival.
(Stats: Fox Sports)
Australian Associated Press
