Joshua Dugan (born 10 May 1990) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who last played as a fullback and centre for the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks in the NRL and Australia at international level.
He played his junior rugby league for the Valley Dragons and South Tuggeranong Knights before being signed by the Canberra Raiders.
[2] Dugan played in the Raiders' NYC Grand Final win over the Brisbane Broncos, scoring a try and kicking 4 goals.
In Round 21 against the Brisbane Broncos, Dugan scored his first NRL career try in the Raiders demolishing 56–0 win at Canberra Stadium.
[13] Dugan played fullback for New South Wales in Game 1 of the 2011 State of Origin series as the Blues lost 16–12 at Suncorp Stadium.
[16] In April, he was set to sign a $2m, three-year deal with the Brisbane Broncos until an outburst on social media website Instagram cost him a contract.
At the end of the year, he was selected for the Australia Kangaroos Four Nations train on squad, but failed to play a game due to offseason surgery.
He earned a spot on the wing for Australia, in a losing effort against the New Zealand Kiwis in the annual ANZAC Test at Suncorp Stadium, as well as a recall to fullback for the New South Wales State of Origin team, filling the void left by NFL convert, Jarryd Hayne.
He staved off competition from James Tedesco, Matt Moylan, Lachlan Coote and incumbent, long-time Blues winger Brett Morris for the fullback jersey.
Struggling with a persistent neck injury, Dugan required off-season surgery to eliminate the possibility of any long-term problems.
On 24 September 2016, Dugan for Prime Minister's XIII against Papua New Guinea, playing at centre and scoring in the 58–0 shellacking win in Port Moresby.
[42] A week after the Origin series loss, Dugan alongside Blake Ferguson were highly publicised after the pair reportedly on a boozy day out at the Lennox Point Hotel in Lennox Head on their day-off from Origin camp on a Friday which was 5 days out before their Game 3 series deciding match.
[43] It was rumoured that the pair were at the hotel at lunch-time and didn't return to camp till about 10pm and the next day at training were hidden away from the media because they were hungover.
[44] In Round 21 against the Newcastle Knights, Dugan played his 150th NRL career match in the Dragons upset 21–14 loss at Hunter Stadium.
[45][46] In the lead-up to the Dragons must-win clash against the Penrith Panthers in Round 25, Dugan was axed from the team by coach Paul McGregor after he missed the team bus heading for the game, Dugan drove up to Penrith but was too little too late and end up watching on as the Dragons won the close encounter by 16–14.
[50] Dugan was not selected for the 2018 State of Origin series by new coach Brad Fittler due to injuries and inconsistent form.
[51][52] On 11 September, Dugan was visibly emotional at a press conference where he claimed no matter how hard he has tried to change public perception of himself, his good acts go unnoticed.
Dugan went on to say "I have been an easy target since 2013... when I got sacked from Canberra, everyone has had an opinion of me since then and it's never going to change, I raised $15,000 for a young boy recently, visited him in hospital, he passed away, you didn't hear about that".
[53][54] In November, it was revealed by The Daily Telegraph that Cronulla had lost their three main sponsors for the 2019 season which equaled $6 million over five years.
It was reported that the sponsorship deal fell through due to Dugan and Andrew Fifita appearing on a podcast back in August 2018 when they called Daily Telegraph columnist Phil Rothfield a "Complete Fuckwit" and that he was "old, weathered and baldheaded".
On 25 October, it was reported that Dugan had been embroiled in a nightclub incident during an off-season fishing trip to Airlie Beach in far north Queensland.