[4] During World War I, Dufty served with the New Zealand Expeditionary Force, embarking in 1916 when aged 16.
[5] Dufty played in the Auckland Rugby League competition for Newton Rangers (1919-21, & 1927-29), Athletic/Grafton Athletic (1922-26), and Ellerslie United (1929-30).
In 1919, aged 19, Dufty made his debut for Auckland, starring in the regions 37-13 defence of the Northern Union Cup against Hawke's Bay.
He was part of the disastrous 1926-27 New Zealand tour of Great Britain, which resulted in several forwards going on strike and receiving life bans.
Dufty's siblings were: Louisa Esther (1901-26), Annie Elizabeth (1902-62), Jessie May (1909-37), and Gwendoline Pearl (1919-90), a brother Cecil Charles who died in infancy (1905), and brothers Thomas Joseph (1899-1949), Samuel Craddock (1911-79), and Arthur James (1911-89).