24 Oct 2017

Ex-NRL star Duffie's All Blacks tour call

7:20 am on 24 October 2017

Former Melbourne NRL winger Matt Duffie has been called up for the All Blacks' northern hemisphere tour as coach Steve Hansen maintains a focus on building depth.

Matt Duffie of the Blues fends against Brad Shields of the Hurricane

Matt Duffie of the Blues Photo: PHOTOSPORT

Duffie has been rewarded for a strong Super Rugby season with the Blues, named as one of four uncapped players along with Crusaders centre Jack Goodhue plus prop Tim Perry and hooker Asafo Aumua, who have both excelled in the national provincial championship.

Duffie started off in union before being scouted by the Melbourne Storm, where he made his NRL debut in 2010.

After six years in the NRL, Duffie signed to play rugby for the Blues last year.

The outside back said making the All Blacks team seemed a bit out of reach.

"Obviously I always hoped that I'd play for the All Blacks and stuff but it's such a massive team with a lot of talent in this country and stuff so I guess it was always quite a far-fetched dream to me so when I came back I just wanted to play well and do my best for the Blues and just hoping to get all the way here, so it's pretty awesome."

He said he found out by watching the livestream of the announcement.

"It was pretty amazing, me and my partner set up a laptop in the lounge and chucked it on and then we sort of heard my name and we were both jumping around like idiots yelling at the top of our lungs, it was cool."

Duffie said the transition from league to union wasn't always easy.

"My first year at the Blues wasn't the greatest, I didn't start out very well ...so it's obviously nice getting named in this team because there's a lot of tough times along the way."

Assistant All Blacks coach Ian Foster said he was impressed with Duffie's work ethic and general professionalism.

Duffie said the time he spent at the Melbourne Storm helped instil a strong work ethic.

"I guess I look at that as a bit of an apprenticeship as a professional athlete. The things I learnt over there from guys like Billy Slater ...those are some of the same values that I still hold today. I got a few injuries and stuff and that made me reassess how I looked after myself and how much I was grateful to play the game. A lot of those things were great learning curves for me."