State of Origin Player Profiles: Josh Dugan

Nick Fray, Origin Online and Over the Line Sports

Origin Online continues its series of player profiles leading into Game Two, with a look at enigmatic Dragon Josh Dugan.

Josh Dugan, New South Wales

Centre, St. George-Illawarra Dragons

Origin Appearances: 3

Origin Tries : 0

Origin Status: Wildcard – possibly trump card

Perhaps Laurie Daley’s biggest selection gamble in his tenure as Blues coach, enigmatic Josh Dugan will be called upon to fill a position he’d never played at first grade level until two weeks ago, filling the void left by the injury to Bulldog Josh Morris. That in itself is a big gamble, but the pressure is magnified significantly when you throw in the added responsibility of marking arguably the game’s most dynamic attacking player in Greg Inglis, meaning Dugan will need the performance of his career if he is to silence critics of the move.

But then, even if selected in his customary position of fullback, Dugan was always going to be a risk/reward proposition; that’s just who he is and how he plays. Dugan’s career to this point has zigzagged between breathtaking highs and abysmal lows, although in fairness most of those lows have come away from the field. It was only a little over a year ago that Dugan seemed destined for the rugby league scrapheap, his contract terminated by a Raiders club determined to put a stop to the negativity generated by a series of off-field dramas associated with the club. Yet, such is Dugan’s talent that just weeks later he was back in the Blues squad to replace the injured Jarryd Hayne.

While things didn’t quite go as planned for Dugan in Games Two and Three last year, he once again has produced a compelling enough body of work at club level this season to earn another crack, with a stellar performance in the unfamiliar position of centre against the Sharks enough to convince Daley that he’s the man to go head to head with perhaps Origin’s most decorated attacking player this side of Wally Lewis. With a club hat-trick in just his second appearance at the position there is little doubt he has the attacking prowess to trouble Inglis, but ultimately the success of the move will come down to whether he can combine defensively with winger Will Hopoate – a centre at club level – to stop a Maroons left side that has 29 Origin tries between them.