Sam Burgess breaks silence on Matt Dufty absence as ‘internal discipline’ cited

Sam Burgess has confirmed Matt Dufty has been stood down by Warrington Wolves after missing a training session earlier this week: insisting his absence is for ‘internal disciplinary’ reasons.

Speculation emerged earlier this week that Dufty would miss Friday night’s showdown with Wigan Warriors for off-field reasons, with the Australian set to be dropped at the Halliwell Jones Stadium.

That has indeed proven to be the case, with Dufty a notable absentee from Warrington’s 17 and Stefan Ratchford named at fullback in his absence.

Burgess, speaking to Sky Sports pre-match, confirmed the reason for Dufty’s absence – but stressed it will just be for one week.

He said: “It’s an internal discipline thing. Matt missed a session earlier in the week and it’s happened with other players throughout the year so we’ve stood him down.

“He’ll miss a game but he’s been great since. He’s behaving himself and he’s been in good spirits – so we’ll see him back next week.”

Sky Sports’ Jon Wilkin admitted it was a ‘big decision’ to make for a game with such high stakes attached to it.

He said: “Matt Dufty misses training and leaves his coach with no choice but to stand him down. It’s what sort of precedent you want to set.

“It’s a big decision to be making off one thing. He may well be late for training but there’s always more information than what we get. There’s got to be more to it than being late for training once.”

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