Wigan Warriors' Tyler Dupree speaks out on Liam Watts tackle ahead of World Club Challenge

[josie andrews]

The England prop continues his meteoric rise with a World Club Challenge appearance less than two years after playing part-time rugby league. He was also at the heart of a controversial red card incident in the Super League's opening round

Wigan's Tyler Dupree will look to bring Penrith to their knees and continue his fascinating meteoric rise.

It’s less than two years ago that the athletic prop was playing part-time with Widnes. But after a switch to Salford and then a big-money move to Warriors, he’s won a Grand Final, been capped by England and is now facing the Aussie champions in the World Club Challenge. Dupree, 24, admitted: “It’s something I was never expecting having only got into full-time rugby so recently.

But I take everything in my stride. I am really looking forward to the opportunity and challenge ahead. I know how big the NRL is over there and I do watch it. We have respect for Penrith. But we’re a good team and we know we can basically beat anyone when we’re at our best. We just need to get the best out of ourselves and hopefully, the win comes off the back of that.”

If Matt Peet’s side do prosper in front of 24,000 fans at a bouncing DW Stadium on Saturday, it will mark a record-equalling fifth victory in the competition.

Penrith, who have claimed three successive NRL Grand Finals, are out to win it for the first time. They have New Zealand captain James Fisher-Harris at prop, the current Golden Boot holder who helped the Kiwis thrash Australia 30-0 in November along with fellow Penrith front-row Moses Leota.

Dupree, yet to even lose in Wigan colours after ten straight wins since debuting in July, added: “Fisher-Harris was basically voted the best player in the world after his performances in that series. I want to test myself against players of that calibre. I’m really looking forward to seeing where I am and how I face off with these sorts of big players.

“It’s massive for me knowing where I want to be in my career as well playing against these sorts of players at international level. I want to be able to show I can hold my own against them for that as well.”

He helped Wigan begin their title defence with a 32-4 victory at Castleford last Saturday. Dupree was one of the big talking points after Tigers prop Liam Watts was sent off and banned for four games for making shoulder contact with his head. The decision - both the dismissal and subsequent suspension - has split opinions.

However, with the RFL cracking down on head contacts in 2024, these sanctions will become the norm. Asked for his view, Dupree said: “It is a difficult one. But we’ve all been told not to make contact with the head. So, it is what it is. We’ve been warned what the consequences are.

“It’s not just Wattsy it’s happened to: it was all over round one. There will be some teething issues as players get used to it. But we’ve been given a set of rules to abide by to make the game safer and the match review panel and RFL are taking it very seriously."

Given the number of tackles they get through, props are perhaps the most susceptible to getting caught out. Yorkshireman Dupree, who featured against France and Tonga last year, insisted: "It’s strange to adapt but rugby league's a physical game which is always changing. I feel like us as a team at Wigan we are good at adapting. We’re learning the rules. It won’t change anything massively in our game but we’re abiding by the rules.”

Ironically, though, the World Club Challenge will be played under international rules so the RFL’s stricter stance on head contacts won’t be applied. Dupree conceded: “That is a difficult one: we’re trying to get used to the new rules and then a week in we’re changing back to what essentially they were anyway. But we’ll play how we play and hopefully, it works for us. We can’t wait to get going.”

https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/rugby-le ... h-32198092

[josie andrews]

Tyler Dupree is desperate to beat Penrith and lift the World Club Challenge trophy... but Warriors star admits it won't be the biggest sporting prize won by a member of his family!

* Tyler Dupree's uncle was a Super Bowl champion with the Dallas Cowboys
* His grandfather was a successful blues singer known as Champion Jack Dupree
* Dupree is looking to lift the World Club Challenge trophy on February 24

Even if Tyler Dupree lifts the World Club Challenge trophy, it will still not be the biggest sporting prize won by a member of his family.

'My uncle Billy Joe Dupree was a Super Bowl champion with the Dallas Cowboys in 1978,' reveals the England and Wigan Warriors prop, who will line up against Penrith Panthers at the DW Stadium on Saturday night.

'I think Super Bowl might be a little bit bigger than the World Club Challenge! But for me and what I want to achieve in rugby league, the World Club Challenge is massive.'

Dupree's famous family links do not end at the former Cowboys tight end. His grandfather – Billy Joe's father – was a successful blues singer known as Champion Jack Dupree, who recorded with Eric Clapton among other music stars.

'He was an orphan in American, then became a blues player and got quite well known,' Dupree tells Mail Sport. 'He has also been a boxer, a chef in the navy and then a prisoner of war in Japan. He did everything.'

A little like Halifax-born Dupree himself who, following the heartbreak of being released by his boyhood club Leeds Rhinos in 2020, had to make ends meet outside of rugby league. He started as a labourer on a building site, then became a support worker in a children's home.

'My mum used to do it, so I had a relatability to that,' explains the 24-year-old. 'I wanted to be able to help these people and have an input into their lives. It was very rewarding.'

With a career as a rugby league player looking increasingly unlikely, Dupree signed up to join the Army. But his sliding doors moment came when he received an approach from Championship club Oldham in 2021.

'I actually missed a meeting for the Army to have a meeting with (then Oldham coach) Matt Diskin,' he explains. 'I wanted to see what I still had to give in rugby league and I feel like I made the right decision.'

Dupree has not looked back since. After being named the Championship's young player of the year in a season which saw Oldham relegated, he joined second-tier Widnes before quickly moving on to Salford in the top flight.

Last year, fresh from making his England debut against France, he signed for Super League giants Wigan mid-season. With his new club, he went on to win the League Leaders' Shield and the Grand Final, completing a remarkable rise from rugby league's scrapheap to silverware success in just three years.

'I am really proud,' he admits. 'It was really tough being told at a young age that you weren't good enough and you weren't wanted. But I don't think I would have wanted the journey any other way.

'I now have a better appreciation for the position I am in and I don't take anything for granted any more. To do the thing that I love full-time and call it a job, it doesn't get much better.

'I have managed to achieve things I didn't think I would achieve, but I am just hoping to improve on that now and go one better.'

That one better could come as soon as Saturday night in the showdown between the champions of England and Australia in front of a sold-out DW Stadium and a national TV audience on the BBC.

Wigan have won the World Club Challenge four times and victory would see them match Sydney Roosters' record of five trophies. Their opponents, NRL premiers Penrith, have been runners-up three times, including against Wigan in 1991 and St Helens last year in their own backyard.

Going up against the pack in the world of rugby league is unreal,' adds Dupree. 'I want to prove I can ride with them and not get left behind.

'The World Club Challenge is an historic event for Wigan. For us new players, we have a get together once a week to discuss the club's history and the past players.

'It's opened my eyes and I've got a real appreciation for the place. We won the two trophies last year – but we are going for it all this year.'

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