Warrington Wolves coach’s challenge to Matt Dufty after being dropped

SAM BURGESS has challenged fullback Matt Dufty to show he deserves a place in the Warrington Wolves team.

The Aussie star was left out of the side which lost at home to Wigan Warriors in round 21 amid reports of an internal disciplinary breach.

And he was on the sidelines again on Thursday as Warrington ended a three-game losing streak and kept their slim play-off alive hopes by beating Catalans Dragons.

Dufty instead featured for their reserves against Wigan Warriors today (Saturday), alongside another big name demoted from the first team, Toby King.

Speaking about his absence after the Catalans game, coach Burgess said: “I love Matt, but I thought the team were good last week against Wigan in defeat and I thought they deserved to have another go.

“We all know what Matt can bring. He’s a brilliant player, he’s been brilliant at training and he’s handled things really well.

“I think if he gets a good performance out on Saturday, we’ll more than likely see him back in the side next week.

“It’s a little bit embarrassing for him, but it’s part of his development. There’s no one that believes in Matt Dufty more than me.

“But we have a couple of standards here and he’s just missed them. It’s where we’re going as a club, we’re going forward and changing a few things.”

Warrington travel to Huddersfield Giants on Sunday and they could also have Paul Vaughan in the mix after the veteran prop missed the Catalans game with a minor injury.