Backing for Salford prop to continue stunning journey from Championship to England team

From plying his trade in the Championship to being called up to the England squad in less than a year, the rise of Salford prop Tyler Dupree has been nothing short of sensational.

The 23-year-old prop came through the academy at Super League giants Leeds, but was let go in 2020 without making a first team appearance.

Dupree knuckled down in the Championship after joining Oldham, where he had a standout season in 2021, earning a move to Widnes after the Roughyeds suffered relegation to League 1.

The 6ft 2in, 106kg prop only played seven games for Widnes being picked up by Super League side Salford midway through last season.

Dupree’s game has gone from strength to strength since his move to the Red Devils. He made his England Knights debut last autumn and he has gone one better this year, being named in Shaun Wane’s 40-man senior squad ahead of their mid-season test against France.

“It’s an incredible achievement if you actually look at Tyler’s story,” Salford assistant coach Kurt Haggerty said.

“A couple of years ago he was playing for Oldham and then moved to Widnes in the Championship. He came halfway through last season to us, then went on to play for England Knights and he’s now in the England senior set-up.

“It is a pretty incredible journey really. I think we should be singing highly about it as a club.”

Salford “really proud” of rising star Tyler Dupree

Dupree has quickly become a key component in Paul Rowley’s forward pack, and is a popular player amongst the Salford faithful at the AJ Bell Stadium.

“He has taken it (England call-up) great, he is a humble young man,” Haggerty said.

“The group have been brilliant with him, we’re all really proud of him.

“We did our homework on Tyler. We tried to find out a little bit about him and his story at Leeds. Me and Paul had a very good relationship with his Widnes coach at the time Simon Finnigan, who spoke very highly of him.

“You delve a bit deeper with him and he’s a fantastic young man. He’s got a lot of learning to do still and he had a bit of tough love from us to get to where he is today in a short space of time, so Tyler hasn’t had an easy journey.

“He has had to learn a lot in a short space of time of being a full-time rugby player, so he has taken everything on the chin and improved week in, week out.

“There aren’t many front-rowers in the game in this country that can do what Tyler Dupree is doing at the moment.”

Next up for Dupree and Salford is a home game against Catalans Dragons on Sunday afternoon, 2:15pm kick-off.

READ NEXT: England Knights star Tyler Dupree taking inspiration from Super Bowl winning uncle