ABOVE all else, Paul Vaughan and Matt Dufty are firm friends.
As such, seeing the full-back’s electric form on the field reflect his happiness off it is highly satisfying for the prop, who has seen some of the leaner periods of his career.
Dufty has been influential in Warrington Wolves’ encouraging start to the campaign, with his 11 try involvements – six tries and five assists – the highest individual figure of any Super League player across the first five rounds.
He also leads the competition for metre-making, tackle busts and clean breaks, and such form saw The Wire keen to tie him down to a new two-year deal, which was confirmed last week.
There will be few people happier to see Dufty smiling and enjoying his rugby than Vaughan, who was a teammate at both St George Illawarra Dragons and Canterbury Bulldogs before joining him in Warrington last year.
“I told Duff the other day that I’m really happy to see him enjoying his footy, because that’s when you get the best out of him,” he said.
“It’s hard as a coach to understand 30 individual personalities which may have been an issue in the past, but Sammy understands Matt really well.
“The way he’s responded to that kind of coaching has been unbelievable – he’s probably been the best full-back in the comp to date.
“That’s how you get the best out of Duff – you give him a lot of confidence, then sit back and watch him play.
“He’s more involved now too as we’ve got him on plays four and five, and he’s punching out massive numbers.
“For me, I’m just glad to see him happy – he had a few lean years but he’s got X-factor.
“If you can unlock that, it’s going to show on the field.
“His happiness is the most important thing – it can be pretty stressful at times but you have to enjoy the highs while you’re on top, which he is at the moment. Hopefully it stays that way.”
Vaughan and Dufty are both firmly settled in England, and the former believes his fellow front-rower Zane Musgrove is firmly on the track too.
The New Zealander – a new signing for 2024 – has been ever-present for The Wire so far this year and Vaughan believes he is progressing nicely.
“I’ve been where he’s at and it can be hard to adapt,” he said.
“It depends how you react to conditions and how much you buy into everything over here, but Zane’s been really good on those fronts.
“He’s got a beautiful young family over here who seem to have settled in really well, which is half the battle.
“That makes it easier – if everything’s good at home, you can come to training in the right space and build on that.
“In the games, I think he’s been really good. He’s built quite nicely and he’s got through a fair bit of work.”
Vaughan and Musgrove have formed part of a middle unit that has remained consistent and injury-free to date.
As such, the New South Wales and Australia representative has not found himself having to replicate the lengthy stints he was churning out at this stage last season.
He credited head coach Sam Burgess – himself a front-rower in his playing days – for managing his loads in the right way to ensure he is as impactful as possible in the bigger games to come.
“Last week, I think I did about 35 minutes whereas last year, I was playing 60-70 minutes and it takes a toll on you,” he said.
“Sammy obviously understands all of that as he’s been there before. He knows how to handle minutes and load as a middle.
“’m more than happy to take a breather here or there so that when the big games come, you’re more able to punch out those bigger minutes.
“I still try to play as long as I can but in the past couple of weeks, it’s been nice to have a bit more of a step back and let some other boys do some big minutes.
“We’ve had consistency in our area in selection, which obviously helps as sometimes it can be a bit fluid with injuries and thinks.
“At this time of year too, the pitches aren’t great so it’s harder to build that relationship with the other middles.
“We all know our games really well – I’ve got a great combination with Jimmy (Harrison) who I love playing with, and Ben Currie stepping in at 13 has been a really positive addition for us.
“I think he’s playing some of the best footy I’ve seen him play, which is great for him and us.
“Then Zane and a few of the other boys are contributing well as well so we’re in a good spot.”
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