Former NRL trouble magnet Josh Dugan has stunned footy fans by playing in a big-time match for the first time in more than five years – after finding a surprising new career as a fishing guide.
Dugan, 36, played in the centres for the Northern Pride in victory over the Ipswich Jets in the Queensland Cup competition last weekend.
The former Canberra Raiders, St George Illawarra Dragons and Cronulla Sharks star ran for 59 metres from six carries and made 11 tackles in his team’s 34-12 win.
Dugan’s shock return to the field comes after he built a life for himself away from football by helping anglers find some of the best fishing spots in Australia.
The 36-year-old now boasts a job as a fishing guide for the Tropic Barra Adventures charter business in far North Queensland, and has held the role for more than two years.
He has promoted the new lifestyle on his social media as he revealed his love of not just fishing, but hunting game like deer and feral pigs with a rifle and bow and arrow.
Josh Dugan (pictured right with a friend) has made a surprising return to the rugby league field more than five years since his last match in the NRL
Dugan (pictured) has since forged a new career as a fishing guide in tropical Far North Queensland
The former NSW State of Origin player (pictured) has also shown off his love of hunting game like deer and feral pigs with a rifle and bow and arrow
Dugan regularly posts shots of him catching everything from great trevally to coral trout and barramundi, along with re-posts from the business’s happy customers.
During his NRL playing days, Dugan was hailed as one of the most exciting players in the game thanks to his ability to flip a match on its head at any given moment.
He started his first-grade career with the Canberra Raiders, where he played 70 NRL games and scored 27 tries.
But his professional footy journey was marred by several off-field controversies that impacted his career.
In 2013, Dugan saw his contract terminated by the Raiders after posting controversial social media images of him flipping the middle finger to the camera during a rooftop drinking session with his then-teammate Blake Ferguson.
Shortly afterwards, he lost a big contract with the Brisbane Broncos when he told a Raiders fan to ‘end yourself’ on social media
He was also involved in another incident with Ferguson just days before the 2017 State of Origin decider, when the duo reportedly drank for hours at a pub on the NSW north coast and were too hungover to front the media the following day.
In 2019 he was allegedly involved in a physical altercation at a nightclub in Airlie Beach, Queensland, and failed to report the incident to his club or the NRL’s integrity unit.
The 36-year-old (pictured playing for the Cronulla Sharks) finished his often controversial NRL career in 2021
This infamous photo of Dugan (front) drinking on a rooftop with then-teammate Blake Ferguson helped end his time with the Canberra Raiders
Dugan played 12 matches for New South Wales across his career, and took part in several series as the state’s first-choice fullback.
The footy bad boy then finished his NRL career at the Cronulla Sharks, where he was involved in more off-field incidents.
He was sacked by the club and fined $50,000 by the NRL after breaching the league’s biosecurity rules and government lockdown rules during the COVID pandemic.
Dugan finished his NRL adventure with 215 matches played, and 79 tries scored at club level.
He also represented Australia in 12 matches across a three-year period.
