Sam Burgess belief key to Matt Dufty's Warrington Wolves form

And having put together perhaps the best season of his career to date, Matt Dufty is in no mood for it to end anytime soon.

The full-back’s influential displays during a campaign in which he has recorded more try involvements than any other player in his position and lead Super League for metres gained have seen him named in the competition’s Dream Team.

When he’s happy, Dufty’s energy is infectious and boundless – something which appears to have had a clear impact on his teammates.

And during what he considers to be his best period in the game to date, he puts it down to one thing.

“Sammy’s obviously got a lot of belief in me,” said the man who was named the club’s Players’ Player of the Year at the weekend before his Dream Team spot was confirmed.

“He probably gives me a lot more leash than other players – he lets me be myself. All of the players and coaching staff here have full belief in what I can do.

“Earlier in my career, one dropped ball would have meant I wasn’t going to be playing the next week but now, I can drop 10 and know that I’ll still be doing a job.

“It’s external and internal belief in myself and in my teammates.

“I was lucky enough to get the Players’ Player award, which says it all. They believe in me and it’s a pleasure playing with them.

“It's probably the happiest I’ve ever been playing rugby league. There’s a maximum of three weeks left and that kind of makes me sad.

“At this time of year, you tend to feel ready for a break but I’m loving my footy at the moment.”

(Image: Allan McKenzie/SWpix.com) Dufty is the only Australian player to be named in a Dream Team dominated by homegrown talent including two of his Warrington teammates – winger Matty Ashton and hooker Danny Walker.

While it is primarily individual recognition, the 27-year-old says none of them would be in such a position without those around them.

“It’s definitely special,” he said.

“If you’d have asked me at the start of the year, I’d have said it definitely wasn’t at the front of my mind.

“It was probably a goal deep down but I just wanted to come here and be consistent. That’s what me and Sammy worked on.

“It’s a great reward not just for myself but for Danny and Tash as well. We couldn’t have done it without our teammates, so we’re lucky to be here.

“ As the season goes on and you put more games together, you start to get into a bit of a groove and get some consistency going.

“That’s something we’ve done really well at Warrington.”

Dufty is the only Australian in this year's Super League Dream Team (Image: Allan McKenzie/SWpix.com) Lately, Dufty has been hampered by a knee injury he sustained at Magic Weekend last month.

Rather typically considering the season he has been having, he played through the pain barrier on the day to score a hat-trick before having surgery which appeared set to rule him out until the play-offs.

However, he managed to get himself back in time for a pre-finals shakedown session, playing for 70 minutes during Friday’s 54-0 thrashing of London Broncos.

“That run out was more for me mentally than anything structural – I was running around a bit headless a few times but I was testing it out,” he said.

“I think the physio team were sick of me and kicked me out of the medical room!

“I needed to get my playing lungs back and get a few cobwebs out. I think I did that – there were a few nice touches and I’ll be better for it this weekend.”

Dufty returned from injury against London Broncos on Friday (Image: Neil Ashurst/P&B Pictures) With their number one back in the fold, The Wire enter a period which will define how their 2024 campaign will be remembered – whether it will be another one of near-misses, or one that will go down in history.

Of course, this Warrington vintage have already had one tilt at major silverware that ended in agonising fashion as they reached the Challenge Cup Final, where they lost to Wigan Warriors.

Dufty insists that still-raw memory will fuel them as they face St Helens – a side they have beaten three times this season but lost to at this stage in 2023 – in Saturday’s eliminator round.

“We’ve had a few knockout games already this year and I think we’ll be better for it,” he said.

“We’ve already had a big game with silverware on the line and we lost, which was obviously heartbreaking but we all now know what a loss on that kind of stage feels like.

“It’s going to make us all the more hungry to go out and win it.

“It starts this week with Saints – it’s probably the best season record Warrington have had in a long time against Saints, but we know that these are the hardest games.

“They’ve got a full squad back and they will be ready to go.

“They’ve got nothing to lose – it’s probably the opposite to last year when they were expected to beat us but now they’re not. They are the teams you have to be most wary of.

“We know how good Saints can be and we’re going to have to be at our best to beat them.”

Dufty in action against St Helens earlier in 2024 (Image: SWPix.com)