A heartbroken Matt Dufty was close to tears after producing his career-best performance a week after being told he was unwanted by St George Illawarra.
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The off-contract Dufty starred in the Dragons' 52-24 pounding of Brisbane, setting up five tries and scoring two others in one of their best performances of the season.
His night was so good even coach Anthony Griffin admitted he could understand why fans would be questioning why they are letting their No.1 go.
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But that will be cold comfort to Dufty, who was cheered up the Kogarah tunnel in what looms as his third last game at his local ground.
"I nearly teared up running up that tunnel after the game," Dufty admitted.
"All the fans banging on the cage, it was pretty emotional and I was overwhelmed.
"I grew up in the St George area and played all my juniors here.
"I debuted here and I love playing at the Dragons. It was obviously very heartbreaking (being told to move on), it was a hard pill to swallow."
What Dufty's future holds is hard to decipher.
Almost every club has their No.1 locked in for next season, with Brisbane having also declared they don't want to go outside to purchase a fullback.
Ironically, it would appear the Dragons are the best fit for him, given they are one of the few clubs without a settled fullback for 2022.
While on the pitch, Dufty has either set up or finished 59 per cent of the Dragons' tries.
The fullback claimed he had not approached the club asking for big money, nor does he fully understand why they want to move him on.
"I let him (Griffin) have all the time in the world, I didn't ask for anything," Dufty said.
"It was obviously a bit of a shock.
"Hook had just come into the club and at the start of the year he wanted me to play some footy.
"And that's what I thought I did. I thought I was playing pretty good.
"But it is what it is. It's not up to me. I just have to try and play some good footy for the rest of the year."
Dufty insisted however he was still on good terms with Griffin and there were no ill-feelings between them.
Griffin praised the fullback's performance on Thursday night, but shied away from any suggestion he could change his tune on the Dragons' succession plan.
"I can understand (why fans would question the decision to let Dufty go), but there's a lot of things that go into that," he said.
"It's not about one game or a performance.
"We need to enjoy tonight and it's been a tough month since the (loss to the) Storm." AAP
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