The Canberra fullback and Blues rookie said he hoped to be a long-term solution for his state shortly after joining the rest of the players at the team hotel in Coogee yesterday.
"That's the plan, to be here as long as I can," Dugan said.
"When I was 10 playing at Valley Dragons in south Canberra I said I'd debut at 18 and that happened. And the second one I said was playing Origin and now that's happened.
"Growing up, there was always great fullbacks in front of me - Minichiello, Gidley and then Hayne - so I was always expecting it would happen a few years down the track.
"You try and build around that core group of players and hopefully now I can be one of them."
Hayne's shock omission was still reverberating yesterday. And Parramatta's fullback admitted he was confused and disappointed at being left out of the side for Game I on May 25 in Brisbane.
A former Dally M winner and staple of the NSW team for the past four seasons, Hayne said he had switched off his phone and headed to his local church once the news came through.
"Obviously (I'm) very disappointed, a bit confused," Hayne said at Parramatta's recovery session yesterday.
"I was confident. I thought I did enough to make the team.
"It was tough for my name not to be read out but that's life and I'm just going to move forward and focus on the Eels now."
Reports last night suggested Hayne had been "sulking" on the field during the Eels' poor run of form, which had also contributed to Stuart's decision to choose Dugan.
Stuart had told Sydney radio earlier in the day he had spoken to some players who had missed out on selection, including Robbie Farah, Luke Lewis, Tom Learoyd-Lahrs and Jarrod Mullen, but he had only been able to leave a message for Hayne.
He intends to talk to Test centre Jamal Idris today when he joins camp as 18th man.
Stuart explained the role Hayne plays for the Eels meant it was impossible to pick him over Dugan at fullback.
"I'm trying to do this as honestly as I can and I just hope it doesn't get turned around," Stuart said.
"I'm a big fan of Jarryd Hayne but I feel as though . . . you watch that game the other night and watch most of his games this year and he plays in the first line of attack.
"He's getting the ball at first pivot or second pivot and I don't need that. I need him playing in a fullback shape. I've got two pivots on the field to put him in a better field position."
While Stuart suggested that Hayne's best hope of playing for NSW again lay with him shifting to five-eighth, the Eels custodian said that move was still several seasons away.
Former Parramatta coach Daniel Anderson put Hayne in the No 6 jumper for the start of the 2009 season, but abandoned the experiment after it failed.
"In a couple of years, but not for the next two or three years. I'll be playing fullback," Hayne said.
"That's where I like to play and that's where I will play.
"I understand in the future five-eighth will be more suited to me.
"I don't feel I have the composure of a five-eighth at the moment."
No comments:
Post a Comment